Category Archives: Christina

Paul sat on the cot in his cell, filled with worry. Time was running out. It would be mere hours before the deadline would be up. Suddenly, there came the familiar sound of loud footsteps in the hall. He gulped in fear. Was his execution coming already?

The key was inserted in the lock and the door swung open. Instead of a guard entering, however, a blonde woman that he had never seen before was shoved into the cell, hard. He opened his mouth to say something. At that moment, however, another blonde woman was shoved into the cell. He stared. “Christina!” he cried out. The cell door was shut with a bang.

Christina looked up in shock from her position on the cold cell floor. “Paul! Oh, sweetie! Are you all right?” She jumped up and gave him a tight hug and a long kiss.

The two of them were still holding each other. Angela cleared her throat loudly. Christina and Paul pulled apart and looked at her. “Oh, I’m sorry,” said Christina. “Paul, this is Angela. She’s one of the people who helped me on this rescue mission. Angela, this is Paul, my boyfriend.”

Paul told the girls about his time as a prisoner, including the visits by Marina. “Oh, we’ve met *that* bitch,” said Angela with a growl. “She’s the one who captured us.”

“She…she also murdered Samantha,” said Paul. “S…she just shot her, right in the heart.”

“Oh, I’d like to get my hands on that cunt right about now,” hissed Christina upon hearing that, clenching her fists.

“I think we’d all like to kill all those fucking mobsters,” said Angela. “But first we have to get out of here. The others will probably be coming soon, since we didn’t call in to them. Let’s be free so we can help them take these fuckers down.”

“The others?” asked Paul.

“Three more were on the rescue mission with us,” explained Christina. “We split up to search different locations where you might be.”

“So when those other guys…” began Paul.

“Girls,” Angela corrected him with a smile. “Other girls.”

Paul smiled too. “I should have known.”

“So getting down to business,” said Angela. “Anything that could help us get out of here?”

“I’ve searched this cell top to bottom many times,” said Paul. “Nothing.”

“If the guards hadn’t taken my hairpin, I could have used that to pick the lock,” Angela sighed.

“I may have something,” said Christina. She reached into her shoe and pulled out a small piece of wire. “The guards didn’t find this.”

Paul looked at her with admiration. Angela thumped her on the back. “Smart blonde!”

Christina grinned. “Here,” she said, handing the wire to Angela. “You probably have more experience with this kind of thing.” Angela took the wire and inserted it into the lock, rattling it around.

Meanwhile, Danica, Abby, and Natalie moved cautiously along the halls deeper into the warehouse, weapons at the ready. Danica had her M-16, Abby her sniper rifle, and Natalie her Uzi. Eventually, they came to a closed door. “I’ll check it out,” said Danica in a barely audible whisper. She turned the knob slowly, then silently pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside.

“It’s a big room,” she reported. “Four men inside, working. They’re moving crates around. We’ll take them out as quietly as we can. They’re armed, so I’d rather try taking them out from a distance. Natalie, use your crossbow on them. Abby, you and I have suppressed weapons, but they won’t be completely silent. We’ll keep them trained on a standing target. Fire only if they notice something.”

Natalie nodded and took out her crossbow, loading a poisoned arrow. Abby gripped her rifle tightly, the suppressor already attached. Danica shouldered her M-16 and took out her silenced pistol. She then nudged the door open silently. Natalie took aim at the man farthest on the left. Danica and Abby aimed at the two men on the right.

Natalie fired. The arrow struck her target in the stomach. He jerked, then toppled over, foaming at the mouth. Even as he was falling, she rapidly and expertly loaded another arrow. She aimed at the next man and fired. He fell, an arrow lodged in his throat. Grinning wickedly, she began loading another arrow.

“Hey, can you give me a hand with…” One of the men turned to call out to his comrades, but stopped in mid-sentence when he saw two of his buddies lying dead on the floor, both foaming at the mouth and with arrows stuck in their bodies in undignified positions. Before he could shout out a warning, Danica shot him between the eyes with her pistol. The faint sound of the shot alerted the last man, but before he could do anything Abby had killed him with a clean shot to his chest from her rifle.

“Good work, girls,” said Danica. They searched the room.

“Here,” said Abby softly. Behind a stack of crates, a narrow set of stairs led downward. The ladies pit-patted quietly down the stairs. The stairs curved to the right, revealing an open door. Beyond the door was what looked like a control room. There were several computer stations and switchboards. Another doorway was on each side of the control room. Three men were inside, all with their backs to the girls and all busy on computers. Danica nodded and the three women stepped into the room, aiming their weapons.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” said Danica calmly. All three men whirled around in shock. “Now nobody do anything stupid,” continued Danica. “A stupid move will be your last.”

“Wh…what do you want?” stammered the man in the center.

“We want to know where the prisoners are being held,” said Danica.

“Hey, you’d better look out behind you!” said the man on the left suddenly.

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Come on. We’re not falling for that one.”

“Unfortunately for you, it was not a trick,” said a female voice from behind them. Danica, Abby, and Natalie let out simultaneous groans. “We have you covered. Now drop your weapons,” continued the female voice. The sound of guns being cocked was heard.

“It’s no use,” sighed Danica. “Do as she says.” They dropped their weapons.

“Now turn around. Slowly,” the voice went on.

They turned around and saw two men and a woman pointing AK-47s at them. The woman was a tall brunette in a black dress and black boots. She grinned wickedly. “I’m Marina. My, but this is getting to be quite a party. After I torture you to find out how much you all know, I’m going to have a lot of executions to take care of.”

“You fucker,” said Natalie. Marina just laughed.

“Hey, you’d better look out behind you!” said Abby suddenly.

Marina laughed again. “Like we’re going to fall for tha…”

At that moment, like three pouncing panthers, Angela, Christina, and Paul tackled the three gun-wielding thugs from behind. The three men at the computers jumped up and a massive rumble broke out.

Danica broke into a wide grin. “She did warn you!” she laughed as she attacked the computer guy in the middle. Abby and Natalie charged the other two computer guys. Christina began punching the guy she had tackled repeatedly in the face from her position on top of him. Angela, who had insisted on being the one to jump Marina as she was the most dangerous, punched Marina in the eye and was preparing another punch when the Russian woman suddenly headbutted her hard, stunning her. Marina used the opportunity to kip up to her feet.

Unfortunately for Paul, he simply was not built to be a fighter. When he had seen that one of the men was the bald guy that had originally kidnapped him, he had insisted on taking him as his target. Although he had succeeded in tackling his man with the aid of the element of surprise, the bald man quickly recovered and began choking him. Paul tried to pry his attacker’s hands loose from his throat, but he was much smaller and weaker than his opponent.

Christina looked over in alarm. She was about to go and help her lover when the man underneath her, taking advantage of her distraction, bucked her off, sending her crashing into a wall. He grinned evilly and got up, advancing on her. Christina scrambled to her feet and got into a fighting stance.

Poor Paul was soon choked unconscious by his opponent. The bald man got up and looked around, trying to decide which fight to intervene in. Noting that Danica seemed to be the leader of this attack group, he rushed at her, intending to sneak-attack her from behind.

Danica had been busy working over her computer-guy opponent. She punched him in the nose, kneed him in the stomach three times in rapid succession, and kicked him in the face. She was about to kick him again when her sixth sense detected danger coming up behind her. She fired off a back kick that plowed into the gut of the man attempting to sneak-attack her from behind. Laughing at his failure, she grabbed both wounded men and bashed their heads together.

Marina was not one to mess around when the situation got serious. She raised her right leg in a full vertical split (ripping her dress and showing her sexy black panties), intending to do a lethal axe-kick on Angela, who was still on the floor. Angela rolled out of the way just in time. Marina’s booted heel slammed into the place where Angela’s blonde head had been a second earlier. Angela kicked Marina in the stomach. The brunette was wounded long enough for Angela to kip to her feet. The two pretty and deadly women circled each other, trading punches. Angela was stronger than the slim Marina and her blows did more damage, but Marina was faster and landed more hits. After landing a good punch, Angela did a jump kick to Marina’s face. It would have knocked her down, but Marina turned the motion into a back handspring and landed neatly on her feet. Angela swore and did a front handspring to take her closer to her opponent.

Abby’s legs crashed into her victim as she performed an aerial cartwheel kick on him. Before he could recover, she punched him twice in the gut and once in the face. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. He looked back and she could tell he was attracted to her, despite the fact that she was engaged in kicking his ass. She teased him by making a kissing sound with her lips, then suddenly headbutted him and kneed him in the groin. She followed that up with a brutal roundhouse kick to the side of his head that sent him to the floor.

Natalie elected to charge her target not by running at him, but by doing a roundoff followed by a series of back handsprings directly at him. Before he could do anything, her booted feet plowed into him as she was backflipping, knocking him down. Landing neatly after her tumbling pass, Natalie stomped on her victim’s face, then kicked him hard in the side, cracking one of his ribs. A second kick to the same spot broke the rib completely. She laughed. “Get up, you pussy. Fucking wimp. Can’t even handle a little girl.”

Christina’s opponent swung a punch at her, but she ducked under it easily and slugged him in the gut. Before he could recover, she punched him in the nose, releasing blood. Next, her front kick to his chest knocked him backward. Realizing he was now at the perfect distance for one of her specialties, Christina smiled sexily and performed a cartwheel, her feet impacting his head one after the other. The force delivered by her muscular legs knocked him to the floor. Looking over, she saw that Paul was unconscious. She was about to run over to him when her opponent began getting up. With a sigh, she turned back to face him.

Danica did a crescent kick on the two men she was fighting. Her kick struck both of them in the face. The one on the left recovered faster and she quickly pivoted and fired a side kick into his chest, sending him crashing into his desk. She winked at her second opponent, the bald man. “Say good night,” she taunted. With that, she put all her strength into a backflip kick. The kick was powerful enough to break his neck. As his corpse slumped to the floor, his comrade trembled in fear.

Angela greeted Marina with a strong punch to her other eye. “Got a matching pair of black eyes now, bitch.” Marina cursed in Russian and nailed Angela in the jaw with a wicked one-two combination of punches. The Russian beauty grabbed the blonde hottie and rammed her knee into her stomach. The attack was delivered with enough strength to wound even Angela’s hard abs. She stumbled backward. Marina laughed, growing more confident…then suddenly howled in pain as Angela’s roundhouse kick crashed into her side and cracked one of her ribs. Screaming in fury, the brunette did a high crescent kick that Angela barely ducked under. She couldn’t avoid Marina’s cheerleader kick that plowed into her face, however. Marina then did a spin kick to Angela’s head that knocked her out.

The Russian woman looked around and decided that escape was the best option. She ran out of the room through one of the side doorways. Christina took notice. “Oh no you don’t, bitch. You’re not getting away.” Anger building up inside her, she launched herself at the man she had been fighting, nailing him with a flying kick and knocking him down. Grabbing his head and placing it between her thighs, she swiftly twisted her hips, snapping his neck. Not giving the body anything more than a quick glance, she raced off after Marina.

Natalie smirked as her opponent dragged himself to his feet, clutching his badly wounded side. “Here’s what a girl’s fists can do,” she sneered. She pummeled his face and chest with fast punches, far too swift for her helpless victim to put up any kind of defense. “And here’s what a girl’s boots can do.” She kicked him in the groin with her metal-toed boot, causing him to howl like a wounded pig. As his hands flew to his nuts, her boot struck him in the face, knocking him to the floor. She began kicking him in the head repeatedly with her heavy boots. His skull was quickly shattered and blood and brain matter flowed freely. She finally stopped long after he was dead.

Abby’s opponent got up and swung a punch at her. She blocked it with her thick forearm and slugged him in the face, knocking him backward. “Try again, baby,” she cooed. This time, he charged her. She calmly waited until he had almost reached her, then suddenly sidestepped and smashed her elbow into his head. Laughing, she turned to face him and did a standing back handspring, kicking him in the face. She noticed that his look of pain was combined with a look of arousal. “Like my gymnastics skills? Then you’ll love my finisher.” With that, Abby let out a shrill scream and launched herself into a handstand on her opponent’s shoulders. Gripping his neck, she twisted hard, breaking it from her handstand position. She somersaulted back to the ground, watching in satisfaction as the man’s corpse fell.

Danica did an uppercut on her surviving opponent. As he stood there stunned, she balanced on one leg and began kicking him repeatedly in the face with her other. Finally stopping her barrage of kicks when he was almost dead, she grabbed his throat with both hands and finished him by choking him to death.

Danica, Abby, and Natalie all looked around. Suddenly, Angela let out a moan from her position on the floor. Danica bent over her, while Abby and Natalie ran after Marina.

Marina raced down the hallway. Ordinarily an extremely fast runner, she was slowed by her cracked rib, courtesy of Angela. She could hear Christina’s footsteps running behind her. Marina ducked into her quarters and grabbed her pistol, as well as her purse that contained all her travel documents. She then headed back into the hall, smirking. She had a nice .45 caliber surprise waiting for Christina.

Christina rounded a corner…and suddenly came face-to-face with Marina and her .45. “Oh fuck, not AGAIN,” she sighed. “I just can’t get away from these blonde moments.”

Marina laughed. “Time to die, cunt.” She pointed the gun at Christina’s head…and suddenly fell to the floor, her pistol sailing loose. “WHAT?!”

Paul was standing behind Marina. He had tripped her to the ground. Marina dove for her gun, but Christina got to it first and snatched it up, pointing it right at the Russian’s head. Marina closed her eyes.

“You won’t die that quickly,” snarled Christina. She whacked Marina in the face with the gun, then transferred the weapon to her left hand as she stood up. Grabbing Marina by the hair with her free right hand, she began brutally kneeing her in the face. Blood splattered on Christina’s dark jeans as she brutalized the once deadly, but now helpless vixen. Christina paused briefly, then lowered her target slightly and started kneeing Marina in the throat. She rammed her knee into its target again and again. When the blonde finally released her opponent, Marina simply flopped down dead, her throat crushed.

The sound of applause suddenly came from behind. Christina and Paul both whirled around and saw Abby, Natalie, Danica, and Angela standing there, all clapping.

“You go, girl!” said Abby.

“You’ve got a deadly mean side!” grinned Natalie. “If you ever want to, you can join up with us!”

Danica walked up to the little blonde and gave her a hug. “It’s over now. You did good. You all did good.”

Christina blushed. “Actually, I couldn’t have done it without my lover here,” she said. “He saved my life by tripping the witch from behind when she was about to shoot me.” She and Paul gave each other a passionate kiss. Danica and Angela smiled, while Abby and Natalie let out wolf whistles.

Christina and Paul finally pulled apart. “Paul, there was something I was going to ask you when you got back from your trip,” Christina said. “But I think now is as good a time as any.” She reached into her pocket and took out the ring. “Will you marry me?” The other women gasped in surprise.

Paul smiled and blushed. “Of course I will,” he said. He and Christina kissed again, while the others stood around them, applauding.

The five female warriors were seated in the cargo plane, having made themselves as comfortable as possible (which still wasn’t much) when they had boarded many hours ago. Christina was glad that Danica had told them to get a good night’s sleep last night, because sleeping in the hot, cramped, noisy cargo plane was next to impossible. Their gear was stored in the back of the plane. In addition to what the girls had carried on board, there had also been three motorcycles already stowed in the aircraft, to provide transportation for when they got to Moscow.

Danica stood up and moved among the women like an officer among her troops. “If you want to sleep, try and get as much of it as you can now. When we get closer, we’ll go over the plans one last time.” The colonel sat back down and opened a book. Angela entertained herself with a magazine, while Abby and Natalie both managed to sleep. Christina sat awake with her thoughts, unable to stop thinking about Paul and what he must be going through.

Paul sat glumly in his cell. He had been there for two days now. He had searched all over for anything that might help him escape, but found nothing. A henchman would come and feed him once a day, but wouldn’t talk to him when Paul asked him for news.

Footsteps approached. Paul looked up in surprise, for he had already been fed for the day. The cell door opened and there stood Marina. She wore an elegant black dress that showed off her slim, athletic figure, and knee-high black boots.

“Your friends aren’t being very cooperative,” she said. “We haven’t received any money or any indication of when they’re going to pay up. That’s bad news…for you.” She reached under her dress and pulled out her .45 pistol, which she had been wearing strapped to her thigh underneath the dress. Pointing the gun right at Paul’s head, she smirked, “Your friends have one more day. If they haven’t paid up by then, I’ll be back …to finish you.” She advanced on him, still pointing the gun at him, then suddenly kicked him in the face with her big black boot, knocking him onto the cot. Laughing at her dominance over him, she re-holstered her pistol under her dress and turned to leave.

Paul, groaning from the impact of her painful kick, yelled after her, “You won’t get away with this!”

Marina, not bothering to turn around, laughed. “Yeah, right. Who’s going to come and rescue you? Your girlfriend?” Still snickering, she walked out of the cell and locked the door behind her.

“Yeah,” said Paul to himself. “That’s exactly who.”

The cargo plane landed at the deserted airfield. The women had gone over their plans of attack for the final time in the airplane. They loaded their gear onto the motorcycles. A local, uniformed man approached the plane and was met by Danica, who handed him a wad of cash. He quickly counted it, then left with a wink and a nod. “This is it, ladies,” said Danica. “Good luck, stay safe, and kick some ass.”

Abby climbed onto one motorcycle and Natalie got on behind her. Angela, after saying reassuringly that she could still drive a cycle even though she hadn’t driven one in years, got onto the second bike, Christina clinging to her back. Danica mounted the last one alone. Because of the time difference, it was already evening. The three bikes headed off into the darkening night.

“It sure was smart to take those motorcycle lessons,” shouted Abby over the roar of the engine. “It was on that list of ‘Top 10 Things A Female Assassin Should Know How To Do’.”

“Yeah,” Natalie shouted back. “And it was really cool meeting all those actresses and stuntwomen while taking those lessons. It’s amazing how many of the same things actresses and assassins have to know how to do.” She paused. “Of course, it would be a lot more fun if I got to drive.”

“Come on. We played rock-paper-scissors on the plane and I won the right to drive the first leg. You can drive on the way back, okay?”

“What-evah. Hey, I think we’re getting close.”

“Agreed.” Abby cut the engine and turned off the headlight. She parked the bike behind a tree by the side of the road and the two girls grabbed their weapons and headed for their target. “There it is.”

Abby and Natalie’s assigned target was a farmhouse complex consisting of a large main house and a barn. The place was a known hideout for the Russian mob. “Perimeter guard count,” whispered Abby, going into all-business mode.

“Four,” Natalie whispered back.

“I count four too. I’ll start from the left.”

“You got it. Now we get to the fun part.” Natalie unshouldered her crossbow and loaded a poisoned arrow. Abby attached a suppressor to the barrel of her semi-automatic rifle.

Taking careful aim at the guard farthest to the right, Natalie shot him in the head with her crossbow. He died instantly, the penetration of his brain by the arrow killing him even before the poison could. Deciding to have a little fun with her second shot, she shot her next target in the foot. He looked down in surprise at the arrow in his foot, then fell over dead, foaming from the mouth.

Meanwhile, Abby killed her first target with a clean shot through the heart from her rifle. The man next to him saw his comrade fall, but before he could do anything Abby shot him in the head, causing a fountain of blood and gore to erupt from it. The two pretty girls looked at each other and gave each other a high-five, then started toward the buildings. “Let’s clear the barn first,” whispered Natalie.

“Okay.” They approached the big red barn, alert for any unseen guards who might suddenly pop up. None did, however. The assassins approached the main door of the barn one on each side. Abby counted to three with her fingers and on three they burst into the barn.

There were two guards right inside the door. Natalie snapped the neck of one with her slim but strong wrists. Abby slit the other’s throat with her knife. Two more guards deeper inside the building raised assault rifles towards the girls, but before they could fire Abby had killed one by flinging her knife into his chest, and Natalie had dispatched the other with a crossbow shot.

The ladies swept the barn with their weapons. “All clear,” said Abby. They quickly searched it, but found no sign of Paul or any sign that a hostage was being held there. Exiting the barn, they approached the main house. Abby picked the lock of the back door and they entered silently.

A light was on in the living room. Three men were there, drinking vodka and playing cards. Three AK-47s lay on a table near them. “Hi, boys,” said Natalie as she and Abby calmly walked right in.

The men looked up in shock and tried to dive for their weapons, but to no avail. Abby blew one’s head off with a quick shot from her high-powered rifle and Natalie riddled the other two with bullets from her Uzi.

Footsteps came running down the main staircase. The girls whirled around and took aim with their weapons. Two men came rushing down, but stopped abruptly when they saw the lethal female assassins pointing weapons at them. “Hands up! Now come down and sit on the couch over there,” said Natalie.

Fear on their faces, the men obeyed. Abby guarded them with her rifle while Natalie searched the rest of the house. “No sign of the hostage,” Natalie reported a few minutes later. “I searched the whole place.”

Abby turned to the two men. “Where’s Paul?” she demanded.

“Paul? Who’s he?” said one man. “And who are you?”

Abby fired a bullet that slammed into the couch an inch from the man’s testicles. “Don’t play dumb with me, asshole! Paul! The man you mobsters are holding hostage!”

“Please!” begged the man, yelping in fright. “We really don’t know!”

“Hmm. I guess they really don’t know. This isn’t the place, then,” said Abby.

Both men sighed with relief. The second man said, “Then you’ll let us go?”

“Nope,” answered Natalie in a calm and cold voice. “We’re going to kill you. You know too much about us, and anyway you’re members of the Russian mob. You have this coming.”

Two mouths dropped open in fear. Natalie nodded at Abby and both lethal vixens performed simultaneous front tuck somersaults to take themselves right in front of their victims. Abby killed the first man with a brutal palm strike to his face that drove the cartilage from his nose into his brain. Natalie grabbed the second man by his hair, wrapped her slim but ultra-strong thighs around his neck, and twisted her hips 180 degrees, snapping his neck. The girls looked at the scene with satisfaction. Abby took out her two-way radio to contact the others.

Danica zoomed through the dark streets of Moscow on her motorcycle, enjoying the feel of the wind against her face. She enjoyed the perks of being promoted to a higher rank, but she missed going into hot zones and getting to kick ass personally. This mission was just what she needed.

She soon reached her target, a small schoolhouse that was being used by the Russian mob as a hideout. Two men with shotguns were on guard outside the building, one in front and one in back. Danica drew her pistol and attached a silencer. She snuck up on the first guard from behind. Suddenly, she stepped on a branch with a CRUNCH. The man whirled around, trying to aim his shotgun. She shot him through the heart. As his corpse fell, she thought, “Damn. Well, I’ll try to see if I can sneak all the way up to the next one. I hope I’m not losing my touch.”

Going around to the other side of the building, she repeated the routine, sneaking up behind the guard. This time, she made it all the way and clonked him on the head with the butt of her pistol. As he fell, she caught his neck between her thighs and began squeezing with all her strength. She finally released him long after her lethal legs had choked all the life from him.

Danica unshouldered her assault rifle and flipped the safety off, setting it to full auto. She walked up to the door and kicked it open, shattering the wooden door into dozens of pieces. Two men inside tried to point their guns at her, but she fired off a long burst from her weapon, cutting both of them down. She quickly swept the rest of the room, looking for any other gunmen.

A noise came from behind a couch. Danica instantly aimed her rifle towards it. “Come out with your hands up!” she ordered.

She kept her weapon trained on him. “If you cooperate, I won’t shoot,” she said. “Now where’s Paul?”

“P…Paul? That guy they kidnapped? He’s not here. He’s at the old warehouse. The one about ten miles west of the city center.”

“That’s where Christina and Angela are!” thought Danica excitedly. She gave the Russian a cold smile. “Thank you very much. And now, it’s time for you to die.”

A look of fear appeared on his face. “B…but you said you wouldn’t shoot me!”

“I know,” said Danica. “I’m keeping my promise.” With that, she walked up to him and kneed him in the groin, causing him to double over in pain and clutch his wounded gonads. She then put all her strength into an ultra- powerful spin kick that slammed into the side of his head with a sharp CRACK. He fell to the floor, his neck broken. She performed a perfect standing back tuck to celebrate. “Yes! I’ve still got it.”

Danica took out her radio and called Angela and Christina. No answer. She tried again. Still nothing. “Shit.”

She called Abby and Natalie. “Paul’s being held at the warehouse that Christina and Angela are investigating. I called them but there was no answer. Get over there as fast as you can. I’ll meet you at the side entrance. Over and out.” Flicking off the radio, she hurried outside, jumped onto the motorcycle, and raced off into the night, hoping nothing had gone wrong.

Christina and Angela had set off on their mission with both excitement and apprehension. Angela drove the motorcycle in a wild ride along the streets of Moscow, the muscles in her big forearms standing out as she gripped the controls tightly. Christina, clinging to Angela’s back, found that she enjoyed the ride thoroughly.

“Well, here we are,” said Angela. She and Christina climbed off the motorcycle and grabbed their weapons. “This is it. The killing part,” Angela whispered. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“It’s a little late to be backing out now,” Christina whispered back, trying to inject a little humor into the situation. It worked, as Angela giggled. “Seriously, though,” Christina continued, “I’ve gone over this in my head many times. I’ve got to do what I have to do to save Paul.”

Angela gave her a hug. “I’m here for you. Oh, and just remember, if the first killing bothers you, it’s only natural. It’ll get easier the more you do.”

The girls moved off towards the warehouse. They climbed over the surrounding fence easily and split up as they approached the building.

Angela, moving along cautiously, stopped when she heard footsteps. A guard with a pistol in a holster was approaching. She ducked into an alcove, drew her knife, and waited. Just after he passed her hiding spot, she leapt out and plunged her knife into his back, finding his heart. She withdrew her blade and the man slumped to the ground, blood flowing onto the surface.

Running footsteps were heard. Another guard, pistol in hand, was approaching. He saw Angela and began taking aim at her. Before he could fire, however, she flung her knife at him with deadly accuracy. It lodged in his throat. His hands flew upward to his throat as he fell, gurgling. Angela calmly walked up to him and retrieved her weapon from the dying man.

Christina had snuck around the other way. She padded quietly around the perimeter of the building…and suddenly came face-to-face with a guard. The guard, who was as surprised as she was, tried to draw his gun, but Christina whacked him in the face with the butt of her shotgun, knocking him out. She looked down at the unconscious man. She had never killed anyone before, not even in self-defense, let alone in cold blood. She hesitated.

She heard someone come up behind her and whirled around in panic, trying to aim her shotgun. “Wait. It’s just me,” came Angela’s voice. Christina sighed in relief, lowering her weapon.

Angela looked at the guard lying on the ground. “Dead?”

“No,” Christina whispered.

“Finish him,” said Angela. “We can’t take the chance of him waking up and alerting all his buddies.”

Christina, after a pause, raised her foot and brought it down in a lethal stomp on the man’s throat. A sharp CRUNCH was heard. She looked down at the man she had just killed.

Angela hugged her. “You did good,” she whispered. “And like I said, it’ll get easier the more you do. Now come on. Let’s go inside.”

They entered through the side door of the warehouse, using a key Angela had appropriated from one of the dead guards. Christina was filled with conflicting emotions. Part of her was in shock that she had taken a man’s life, but another part was feeling satisfied and powerful that she had pulled off the kill. She gripped her shotgun tightly. Angela had her AK-47 ready in her hands.

The girls advanced cautiously through the first room, which was a large space filled with stacks of crates. Suddenly, a bright light was shone on them. They looked at each other and then performed sideways aerial cartwheels in opposite directions. The gymnastics moves saved their lives. A split second later, bullets impacted the place where they had been standing.

Six guards with AK-47s were firing at the girls from a catwalk overlooking the room. Christina and Angela dove behind separate crates for cover. Angela leaned out and took out one opponent with a quick burst from her own AK-47. A second later, Christina nailed another guard in the head with a blast from her shotgun, causing it to explode in a fountain of blood and brain matter.

The four remaining guards went for cover, two keeping fire trained on the girls while the others retreated. Angela and Christina periodically leaned out and returned fire. During one such action, Angela leaned out from behind her crate just before one of her opponents popped out from behind his. She quickly shot him dead.

Christina’s shotgun clicked empty. She whipped out her revolver and yelled, “Cover me!” She leapt up and dashed closer to the enemies’ position as Angela laid down covering fire. Christina dove behind another stack of crates. From her new angle, she had a clear shot at one of the guards. She fired two bullets into the center of his chest.

As their comrade fell dead, the last two guards began a panicky retreat. “The buggers sent a team to raid us instead of paying up!” one yelled. “Well, we’ll show them. We’ll kill the hostage!”

“No!” shouted Christina. She jumped up and began chasing after the guards.

“Christina, wait!” yelled Angela. “There’ll be too many of them! We have to call the others and go in all together!” But Christina was already gone.

Angela raced off after her. She caught up to the smaller woman as they raced down a hall. “Christina, stop! We need to…” At that moment, six men and a woman, all armed with AK-47s, appeared from around the corner. All seven of them instantly trained their weapons on Christina and Angela.

“Oops,” said Christina in a guilty voice.

“Drop your weapons!” ordered the woman. She was tall and slender, with a messy but alluring pile of dark brown hair. She wore a short, elegant black dress and knee-high black boots. Angela and Christina reluctantly dropped their guns. At that moment, the two-way radio on Angela’s hip squawked.

The woman in the black dress scowled. “Drop it on the floor and slide it over here!” The radio squawked again. With a sigh, Angela slid the radio over. One of the men bent down and picked it up.

An evil smile appeared on black dress girl’s elegant face. “Welcome to Moscow, ladies. My name is Marina and I’ll be your hostess. Gentlemen, search these ladies and escort them to the basement.”

The men roughly searched the girls, relieving them of all their equipment. Christina and Angela were then frog-marched off to the basement, assault rifle barrels in their backs.

Abby and Natalie met Danica outside the warehouse fence. “I’m afraid Chris and Angie have been captured,” said Danica.

“Do you think they’re still alive?” asked Abby in a worried voice. “What if they’ve been…”

“No! We’re not going to think like that. Not as long as there’s still a chance. Come on. Let’s go.” The three ladies vaulted over the fence and headed for the building. “Check the perimeter,” said Danica.

“Three guards outside, all dead,” reported Natalie a minute later. “Looks like Chris and Angie’s handiwork.” The tone of her voice was proud. Abby and Danica also couldn’t help smiling a little.

Weapons in hand, the girls entered the warehouse through the side entrance. “Door’s unlocked,” murmured Danica.

Inside, Abby stepped on a small piece of brass. She looked down. “Shell casings. Looks like there was a shootout.”

“Look!” whispered Natalie. She pointed to the bloody corpses of four dead guards. “More handiwork.” Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn’t help smiling again. At the far side of the room, a hallway led deeper into the building.

“This is it, girls,” Danica whispered. “Stay sharp and stay together.” Hearts beating rapidly, the three pretty and deadly women entered the hall, wondering what they would find.

Christina hugged her boyfriend, Paul, as they stood in front of their apartment. “My man, going on his first business trip,” she smiled. “You’re moving on up in the world.”

Paul blushed. “Aw, this is really big shot Senior VP Samantha’s trip,” he replied. “She’s the one who’s going to make or break this deal with the Russian company. I’m just along to report on the condition of their labs.” Paul and Christina both worked for a company called Worth Chemicals. Christina was the company’s head of security, and Paul was a chemist. They had been dating for almost two years.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Christina. “Sam needs you, and the company needs you. Remember, out of all the chemists Mr. Worth chose you to be the one to go.” She kissed Paul on the lips.

A car horn was heard, indicating the arrival of the company vehicle that would take Paul to the airport. He reluctantly disengaged himself from his hot blonde girlfriend’s lips. “Have a good trip, and travel safe,” Christina called. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Paul called back. The driver opened the trunk and put Paul’s bags in. Paul climbed into the back seat next to Samantha.

On the way to the airport, Samantha filled him in on the details of the trip. “Mr. Worth thinks that if we can make a deal with these Russian guys, we can have a supplier at a much lower price than our competitors. However, he’s worried about quality. That’s where you come in. I need you to do a careful inspection of the Russian company’s facilities while I’m handling the business end of things. Make sure everything’s up to our standards.”

Paul nodded and leaned back in his seat, excited to be on his first real business trip. He had no idea how exciting – and dangerous – things were going to get.

In Moscow, Paul and Samantha were met at the airport by a driver from the Russian company. As they drove along the streets, none of them noticed the black Mercedes that was following them. Inside the Mercedes, the driver, a big, ugly, curly-haired man, nodded to his comrade in the passenger seat. “Call Marina and tell her we have a fish and we’re in pursuit.”

The second goon, as big and ugly as his companion but bald, nodded and took out his cell phone. The two men were thugs working for the Russian mob. They were in the business of kidnapping rich people and holding them for ransom.

“We got something, Marina,” said the bald man into his phone. “Looks like a couple of rich American business travelers, one man and one woman. They have a local driver.”

“Location?” said the cold, feminine voice on the other end.

The bald man told her. “We’ve got it under control. I’ll call you when we’ve got them. Over and out.”

The vehicles entered a deserted stretch of road. “Let’s do it,” said the bald man. The curly-haired man snickered evilly and accelerated, ramming the back of the company car. There was a loud clash of metal. He rammed the car again, forcing the company vehicle off the road. It crashed into a tree and came to a stop. The Mercedes braked to a stop behind it and both goons jumped out, carrying pistols.

Paul and Samantha looked at each other in fear. They had been enjoying a nice ride when they had suddenly been rammed and forced off the road. A moment later, two men with guns appeared.

The curly-haired man cold-bloodedly executed the driver with a shot to the head. Paul and Samantha both gasped in shock. The killer pointed his gun at Samantha. “Get out, now!” On the other side of the car, the bald man, pointing his gun at Paul, motioned for him to do the same.

“Follow my lead,” Samantha whispered to Paul, before getting out of the car. She approached the curly-haired man with her hands up. A scared look was on her face, and only part of it was acting. She saw him relax as his brain told him he was dealing with no more than a frightened woman.

She struck with lightning speed, kicking the gun out of his hands and drawing a hidden stiletto from underneath her skirt. She plunged the weapon into his throat, twisting it hard, then yanked it out. The curly-haired man collapsed to the ground. Blood bubbled out of the dying man’s throat.

Paul had been watching Samantha closely. When she attacked, the bald man began aiming his gun at her. Paul did the only thing he could do. He jumped on the bald man, trying to wrestle the gun away. Paul was much smaller and weaker than his opponent, however, and the big goon soon gained the upper hand.

Samantha dove for the curly-haired man’s gun, which was lying on the grass a few feet away. Just before she could get to it, however, a shot rang out. Samantha looked down in surprise and saw that she had a large hole in her chest. A second later, she slumped dead to the ground.

“NOOOOO!” shouted Paul, who saw what happened from his position pinned under the bald man. Who could have shot her? He was still keeping the bald man busy.

He got his answer a moment later, as a tall, slender brunette woman appeared, a shiny, still-smoking .45 caliber pistol in her right hand. She had the stunning beauty of a model, but he could see the evil in her eyes.

The bald man whacked Paul in the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him out. He then looked up at the woman. “Marina!” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“Saving your incompetent ass, apparently,” she answered. “You idiots can’t even do a simple kidnapping right. It’s a good thing I decided to come here myself. I had a gut feeling that something would go wrong.”

“Hey,” said the bald man defensively. “I got my man. And at least I wasn’t the one who got beat by a girl.”

“You just may be getting a beating from a girl, if you keep giving me attitude,” she snapped.

The bald man stood up straight. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said in a frightened voice.

Marina pointed at Paul’s unconscious form. “Now put him in the trunk and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Christina sat in her office, going over the weekly security report. She plucked out the last two French fries from the carton and ate them, even though they were cold, and tossed the empty carton and a crumpled burger wrapper into the trash can across the room.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she said. Mr. Worth, President and CEO of the company, entered, an extremely worried and alarmed look on his face. Christina stood up and stared. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” said Worth. “You’d better sit down. It’s about Paul and Samantha. They were…attacked by the Russian mob on the road from the airport. The mobsters were targeting Westerners for kidnapping. They killed the driver…and the fuckers killed Samantha too. They said she was resisting. Paul’s been kidnapped. The kidnappers are demanding that the company pay them $10 million within 72 hours, or they’ll…they’ll kill him.”

“Oh God,” said Christina, her hand flying to her mouth.

“I’m already working on getting the money together,” said Worth. “We should be able to…”

Christina jumped up. “Wait a minute. How do we know the fuckers won’t kill Paul even if we do give them the money?”

The CEO sighed. “We don’t. But I’m not going to give them an excuse to kill him. I’ve also been in contact with the Russian police, and they said unless they get extremely lucky, there isn’t much chance of catching the bad guys before time runs out. Handing over the money seems like the best chance we have to get Paul back alive.”

Christina began pacing. “I can’t stand by and let this happen without doing anything.”

“I know he’s your boyfriend…”

“He’s more than that!” the blonde interrupted. She reached into her pocket and showed Worth a ring. Her voice softened. “I was going to ask him to marry me. I was going to surprise him when he got back from his trip.” She felt the tears start to flow. She hadn’t cried since she was 13.

Worth stared at her. “I didn’t know you two were that close,” he said softly. “Er…I know how you are and I know how you operate,” he continued. “I kind of figured you might react the way you did. There may be another way to handle this. I have a…connection who may be able to help you.” He pressed a business card and an envelope into her hand. “If you need to take some time off in the next few days, it’s granted,” he said. As the CEO exited, he called out, “Good luck.”

Christina wiped the tears from her face and looked at the business card she held in her hand. It read:

‘Colonel Danica Cooper

Fort Lewis, Washington’

Beneath those lines were an address and telephone number. She opened the envelope and saw that it was filled with hundred dollar bills. There was a note on top of the money that read, “You’ll know what this is for.” A grim smile appeared on Christina’s attractive face as she reached for her phone and began dialing. Those mobsters were going to get a swift, sharp, and brutal lesson in pain very soon.

Danica met Christina at the entrance of the base. Christina had driven there as soon as she finished her call, stopping only at the bank to withdraw as much cash as she could on short notice to add to the stash in the envelope. The two women shook hands, then Danica led Christina into her office and closed the door.

“I’m so sorry about your boyfriend,” said Danica, squeezing the other woman’s hand. “Unfortunately, we have very little time. You told me the deadline was 72 hours and the kidnappers were Russian mobsters. I’m familiar with them and it pains me to say it, but they do have a tendency to kill kidnap victims even if ransom is paid. We’re going to have to move fast if we’re going to rescue him.”

“Which unit will be performing the rescue?” asked Christina.

“Unit?” said Danica, staring. “Honey, that rescue ain’t going to be performed by any Army unit. Do you have any idea how much red tape there is in this organization? By the time we got everything together, the deadline would have long passed.”

“And so just who will be executing this mission, then?”

“I’ll be leading a team of…hmm, how shall I put it…I’ll just say assassins.”

“ASSASSINS?!” Christina jumped up from the comfortable chair she had been sitting in. “Aren’t you an Army officer? What are you doing dealing with a…”

“There are a lot of shades of gray in the world. Sometimes things have to be done that regular soldiers just can’t do. There’s always going to be an underworld. My philosophy is to make deals with the ones who have some sort of code of honor, and make war on the ones who don’t.”

Christina sat back down, nodding her blonde head in understanding. This was a whole new world to her, and Danica knew it a lot better than she did.

“In my dealings I’ve gotten to know some good assassins,” the colonel continued. “I’ve already called the ones I think would be the best and brightest for this job. They’re on their way right now. Two of them, Abigail and Natalie, are coming in from Denver. They should be here in a couple of hours. The other one, Angela, is coming in from Tennessee, so she’ll need a little longer.”

Christina stared in surprise. “All girls?”

“Like I said, I picked the best and brightest. Funny how that worked out!”

Christina smiled. She was starting to like this woman.

Danica smiled back. “I promise you, us four girls will be a lethal and unstoppable team.”

“I’m sure you will be. However, five girls will make an even more lethal and unstoppable team. I’m coming with you.”

The colonel opened her mouth, but Christina continued speaking. “I assure you, I do not make this statement lightly. I’m experienced with firearms and well-trained in hand-to-hand combat. I’m not just an ordinary businesswoman.”

“I don’t doubt your talents, but this is a mission that will require killing people in cold blood,” said Danica. “Are you sure you’re up for that?”

Danica nodded slowly. “Then it’s settled. The five of us against the Russian mob.”

“Thank you, Colonel,” said the blonde.

“Please, call me Danica,” she replied. “Now we’d better get to the airport. The rest of our team will be arriving soon.”

Paul awoke with a terrible headache. The first thought that came to his mind as he regained consciousness was, “Not again.” In the past two years this was the second time he had been kidnapped, the second time he had been knocked out, and the third time he had been taken hostage.

Finding himself lying on a dirty cot, he sat up and groggily tried to remember what had happened. The drive…the ambush …Samantha getting killed by that sexy but deadly woman…and the ugly bald guy knocking him out.

Paul looked around and saw that he was locked in a dark, musty cell about eight feet square. There was no window, and a barred door was the only exit. A sink and toilet stood in the corner.

Suddenly, footsteps approached. There was the sound of a key turning in the lock and the cell door swung open. A pretty woman stood there…the same woman who had murdered Samantha.

“Ah, so you’re awake,” she said in a sexy accent. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten the chance to become acquainted yet. I’m Marina.”

Paul said nothing.

“Now now, where are your manners, Paul?” she snickered. She held up his wallet. “Luckily, I already know who you are.”

“You murdered Samantha! How could you?!” He finally spoke up.

“Oh, was that her name? She was resisting. I had to ‘take care’ of her. We would have preferred two hostages but you’ll do well enough. We’ve already asked your boss for $10 million.”

Paul’s glance traveled past Marina and towards the open door. She noticed and laughed. “You’re thinking about escape, aren’t you?” She smiled sassily. “Well, go on and try it. Try and get past me.”

Paul shook his head and turned his body as if he was going to sit down on the cot, then suddenly charged her, hoping to take the vixen by surprise. She was too fast for him, however, and stopped his charge abruptly by kicking him in the face. His hands flew to his injured jaw. Glaring at her, he rushed her again. This time, she pivoted and knocked him back with a swift but powerful side kick to his chest. Paul, growling, was about to charge her a third time when she suddenly whipped out a gun from under her coat. He recognized it as the same one she had used to kill Samantha.

“All right, playtime’s over. I have some business to take care of. You be a good boy now.” Marina exited the cell and locked the door behind her. Paul sat back down on the cot and rubbed his sore jaw. He wondered if Christina knew yet. He began to sob. He didn’t want to die without seeing her again.

At the airport, Christina and Danica sat on a bench in the baggage claim area, waiting for Angela’s flight to come in. Abby and Natalie, whose flight had arrived earlier, were sitting on another bench across from them. When Danica had pointed the two new girls out, Christina had been shocked at how young they were. The skinny girl, Natalie, had rather irritably responded that “Abby and I are 21 now and we don’t even have to use our fake IDs anymore to buy beer.”

Christina sighed with uncertainty. Did she really want to go through with this? Associating with assassins and personally going on a mission that would involve cold-blooded killing? She tried to steel her resolve. “I have to do this for Paul.”

Abby and Natalie whispered to each other as they sat on their bench. “I don’t like this,” said Natalie. She nodded at Christina. “Why is she here? It’s not SOP for the client to come out here like this.”

“And why did Danica want to bring in another assassin? Does she think we can’t handle this ourselves?” wondered Abby.

“All right, stuff a sock in it, you two,” said Danica. “Abby, I have the utmost confidence in your and Natalie’s abilities. That’s why I chose you for this job. But this operation is too big for just two people.”

“When are you going to tell us the details of this operation?” Abby asked.

“When we’re all together back at headquarters. No need to go over everything twice.”

The black, unmarked SUV sped over the deserted roads. It was a dark and moonless night. Danica, tight-lipped and silent, was at the wheel. Christina sat in the front passenger seat, a million thoughts racing through her head. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. Abby, Natalie, and Angela were in the back seat. Christina had watched the assassins size each other up when they had first met at the airport. She had been relieved to see that Angela, at least, was close to her age.

“Hey, that sign said Fort Lewis was the other way,” Angela piped up from the back seat.

“We’re not going to Fort Lewis,” said Danica. “We’re going somewhere more …private.”

After traveling on a succession of roads that got narrower and bumpier, the black SUV came to a stop in front of a gate. A barbed-wire fence stretched off to the left and right. From the illumination of the headlights, signs on the fence were visible that read PRIVATE PROPERTY. KEEP OUT. TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT. SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN and EXTREME DANGER. 10,000 VOLTS. Danica got out of the vehicle and punched in a code at a control pad next to the gate. The gate silently swung open. The Army colonel got back in the car and drove into the secret base. Christina gulped as the gate swung shut behind them.

After a few more minutes of driving, they came to a small tin shack. Inside, there was nothing but a set of stairs leading down. At the bottom of the stairs, Danica flipped on a light switch, revealing that they were in an enormous basement. For the first time, the five women were together in a private, well-lit place. They looked at each other carefully, sizing each other up.

Danica, as the leader of the expedition, was the oldest woman in the room, nearing forty (although she still looked youthful and sexy). At 5’8″ and 132 pounds, she was also the tallest. She had shiny, shoulder-length brown hair that was pulled back in a neat bun. Angela was thirty years old and a sexy Southern beauty. She was 5’7″ and 135 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a deep tan. Abby and Natalie were both 21 and the youngsters of the group. Abby was 5’6″ and 130 pounds, with long dark brown hair that went down to the middle of her back. Natalie was slightly smaller at 5’5″ and 120 pounds. Her shoulder-length hair was exactly the same color as Abby’s. All four women had very well-toned, muscular, and feminine bodies.

Although her body was as muscular, well-toned, and feminine as the others, Christina was still a little intimidated. She was 29 years old, but her youthful face and long blonde hair made her look younger. At 5’3″ and 120 pounds, she was also the shortest woman in the group. In addition, for the others, killing was their profession, whether legitimately or illegitimately. She was just a businesswoman.

“All right,” said Danica. “We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get right to business. We’ve all been introduced. Christina here is our client. Her boyfriend, Paul, has been kidnapped by the Russian mob while he was on a business trip to Moscow. They demanded $10 million in ransom and threatened to kill him if they didn’t get the money within 72 hours. Since that was about six hours ago, we have 66 hours left. Christina and I both believe there is a good chance that Paul will be killed anyway even if the ransom is delivered on time. Therefore, we’ve decided on a rescue mission. I called the rest of you here because if I tried to get the Army to rescue him, by the time we got through all the red tape the deadline would have long passed. Angela, Natalie, Abby, I’ve read all your files…”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Abby. “We have *files*?!”

“Yes. But that’s not important right now,” answered Danica. “What’s important is that I’ve read your files and I know you’re the best people for the job. The five of us will be going in…”

“Wait,” interrupted Natalie. “Five? Since when does the client go on the mission? We can’t carry passengers.”

“Excuse me, but I won’t be a passenger,” said Christina. “I know as much about weapons and hand-to-hand combat as anyone else in this room. I can take care of myself. I’m not going to just sit here while my boyfriend is in danger.”

“What-evah,” said Natalie. Danica scowled at her, not liking that attitude.

“Now as I was saying before I was interrupted, *repeatedly* I might add,” continued the colonel, “we’ll be leaving tomorrow evening. It’s getting pretty late and we all need a good night’s sleep. Once we get to Russia, we’ll have to work fast to beat the deadline and we may not have much time for sleeping. We’ll make preparations tomorrow. There are bedrooms off the hall to the right.” The five women headed off to bed, Christina full of apprehension, Danica still intensely focused, Angela cool and expressionless, Abby eager but calm, and Natalie eager and excited.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast in a makeshift dining room, they got down to business. Danica had already contacted her sources in Russia about possible places the mobsters might be keeping Paul. “We’ve narrowed it down to these three locations as the most likely. They’re known hideouts for the Russian mob, and they’re all isolated places that would be ideal for holding a prisoner. I have blueprints of each of the locations here.” The colonel put some documents on the table. “When we arrive, we’ll split up to do reconnaissance on each of these places. Abby and Natalie, you’ll take this one here. Angela and Christina, you’ll do this one. I’ll take this one alone, since it’s the smallest.” Danica then pulled out a map of Moscow and marked each of the mobster hideouts on it. “I have a map for each team. If you discover that Paul is being held at your location, call the others and we’ll be there as soon as we can. If our reconnaissance fails to reveal the hostage’s location, we’ll have to raid all three locations.” She paused. “Are there any questions?”

“What if we raid all three places and the hostage isn’t at any of them?” asked Angela.

“We’ll cross that bridge when and if we come to it,” Danica answered. She continued, “Go over your blueprints with your partner. Decide on a game plan for recon and get it drilled into your heads good. Then we’ll all get together and make plans of attack for raiding each location. I want each of you to know all of these places like you know your own house. After that, we can start getting our supplies and weapons ready. Decide what weapons each of you wants to take. There’s an outdoor firing range at this facility, so we can get some practice in before we leave. We all need to be very sharp. A cargo plane will be landing at 6:00 this evening to take us to Russia. We need to be ready to drive to the base’s airstrip at 5:45. We have a lot to do. Let’s get to it.”

Christina stepped forward. “I…I just want to thank you all for doing this. I love Paul and I don’t want to think about life without him.” She pulled out the envelope that Worth had given her. “Here’s the money for the mission. Split this four ways, or divide it however you usually do these things. I’m sorry that it’s not more, but my boss and I had to grab whatever cash we could on short notice. No one else knows about this mission. Of course, no one would have had a problem with him using $10 million of company money to pay off the mobsters, but he uses less than that to pay for a rescue…then the sensitive and whiny would be offended if they found out. Go figure.” Angela nodded in understanding and agreement at that remark.

“It’s not really about the money for me,” said Natalie. “It’s about the thrill and the excitement.”

“For me, it’s about being the best at what we do, and being able to prove it by utterly defeating our opponents,” put in Abby.

“I’m motivated by the desire to take revenge against those who are truly evil,” said Angela.

Christina felt a small smile come to her attractive face. She was very different from these women, but there were similarities too. In any case, she hoped they could get along, work well together, kick some major gangster ass, and rescue poor Paul.

The women then got to studying their blueprints. Angela leaned over close to Christina and touched her arm. “I know what you’re going through,” she whispered. “My husband was murdered and I couldn’t have any peace in my dreams until I took revenge on the assholes who killed him. That’s how I became an assassin in the first place.”

Christina smiled at the other blonde and squeezed her hand. “Thank you,” she whispered back. She was especially glad to hear that from Angela because they would be working together. She also wondered whether she might have ended up like Angela if it had been Paul who had been murdered. She would have certainly wanted vengeance, and could easily have been driven to violent acts herself. In fact, if the Russian mobsters killed Paul, she might become…

“No,” she thought. “I’m not going to think about that. Not as long as Paul’s still alive.” She turned her attention back to the blueprints.

After they had finished their tactical planning, the five sexy women headed out to the shooting range. Christina, although she owned several guns and practiced frequently with them, was still nervous about how her performance would compare to those of the professional assassins. Though she was disappointed that her markswomanship wasn’t quite as good as theirs, she smiled when Abby told her, “You’re still a better shot than 99% of cops.”

The ladies had a fun time shooting various weapons. They made a bit of a friendly but intense competition out of it. Danica was revealed to be the best shot with pistol and revolver, Abby won the rifle contest, Angela took the shotgun competition, and Natalie was the best with the submachine gun and the crossbow. The shooting helped the tomboyish women bond and they shared jokes and work stories over lunch. After the meal was over, Danica went over some common Russian words and phrases.

The sun slowly moved lower in the sky as the girls continued with their preparations. Christina took a break to talk to Danica. “Thanks for organizing all this,” she said to the colonel. “This means so much to me.”

“No problem,” Danica replied. “I can only imagine how I’d feel if my husband or my daughter was kidnapped.” She paused and looked around, seeing that the others were busy. “I’m glad to see everyone’s getting along decently enough,” she said in a low voice. “I was worried about bringing so many clashing personalities together. I’m an Army officer and not a referee. Even in my capacity as a mom. My daughter’s an only child, so I’ve never even had to deal with squabbling siblings. But even though we may be different, I think we have enough in common that we can work together very well. I really think this mission is going to work.”

As the afternoon shadows got longer, the ladies changed into their combat clothes, each packed a small bag for their personal things, and readied their weapons and ammo. Danica called her husband and daughter to say that she was going on a secret mission. Abby, Natalie, and Angela were all comfortably single. At 5:45, the women, armed, beautiful, and dangerous, headed out of the building for the ride to the airstrip.

Danica was dressed in camoflauge pants and top and military boots, though she wore no rank or other insignia. Not for this mission. Her brown hair was tied back in its ubiquitous bun. She carried an M-16 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol.

Christina wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt that was tight enough to make the shape of even her small breasts stand out distinctly. Her long blonde hair was in a bun like Danica’s. She was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a .357 magnum revolver.

Angela wore tight black shorts that showed off her cheerleader’s legs, and a black top that had the sleeves rolled up to show her muscular forearms. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was in a ponytail. She had an AK-47 assault rifle, along with an elegant but extremely sharp combat knife.

Abby and Natalie both wore tight black pants and black tank tops that displayed their well-toned biceps. Abby’s long brown hair was ponytailed, while Natalie’s shoulder-length brown hair was left free. Abby was armed with a semi-automatic, high-powered sniper rifle and a knife similar to Angela’s. Natalie had an Uzi submachine gun and a crossbow. Abby wore ordinary black sneakers, but Natalie had on a pair of sexy knee-high black leather boots.

Soon, the cargo plane landed. The girls climbed aboard and the plane quickly turned around and took off again. Danica alone spoke briefly with the pilot and co-pilot. It was clear that this was a ‘talk as little as possible to others’ type of mission. As the aircraft headed off into the darkening sky, each woman felt a surge of excitement run through her. They were all eager to kick some ass.

Christina gathered up her things from her office as she prepared to leave for the day. As she collected her items, she thought about the events of a year ago that had earned her this large office.

A year ago, she had been an ordinary middle manager in the company. One day, she discovered that a young troublemaker named David, who was one of the employees in her department, had beaten up a coworker named Paul in an argument over a promotion. When David refused to apologize and admit his guilt, she had taught him a lesson by beating him up. David had then turned to his uncle, William, who was one of the company’s vice presidents and had a strong degree of influence. William, enlisting the aid of thuggish henchmen, had tried to bully her into quitting, but she had beaten him up too, as well as his hired goons. The saga ended with William and his henchmen going to jail, David being fired, and Paul receiving the promotion he deserved. As for Christina, her actions were deemed impressive enough that she received William’s old position.

Now, at 28 years old, she was the company’s youngest vice president. She was also in a serious and sexual relationship with Paul, whom she had gotten to know quite well during the incident and had found quite attractive in both looks and personality. They had to keep their relationship quiet, however, as the company frowned on executives and lower-level workers dating each other.

Suddenly, there came an urgent knocking on the door. Christina opened it and was surprised to find Mr. Worth, president and CEO of the company, standing there. “Come in. What can I do for you?”

Worth looked around nervously, then quickly slipped into the office and closed the door behind him. “I’ve got a problem and I’d like you to help me,” he said. “This is going to be a strange request, but…we’ve got an industrial spy in our company and I want you to find out who it is.”

Christina looked at him in surprise. “A spy? Really? But why would you want to come to me?”

“Well, first of all, from the level of knowledge the spy has, one of my senior vice presidents has to be involved,” said Worth. “Besides me, you’re the highest-ranking person here who’s not one of them. But more importantly, I remember the way you dealt with William and I really like your…methods. I have the security team working on the case, but they’re mostly a bunch of incompetent blowhards who got into security because they didn’t have what it takes to make it onto the police force. But you…you know how to solve problems. I don’t have to tell you that there’ll be a substantial reward for you if you solve this.”

She nodded. “I’ll be happy to help you,” she said. Growing up in a rough neighborhood, she had developed a strong sense of justice and despised thievery and dishonesty.

“Good,” said Worth. He handed her a file. “Here’s everything you need to know about the case,” he said. “Don’t let anyone else see this file and don’t let anyone else know what you’re doing.” He turned to leave. “Thank you and good luck,” he added.

After the CEO had gone, Christina closed the door and sat down at her desk to read the file. The name “Worth Chemicals” was printed on it in small black letters. It seemed that chemical formulas were being slipped out from the company and right into the hands of BroadChem Industries, their biggest rival and a company that had a reputation for aggressiveness and underhanded dealings. BroadChem would make products from the stolen formulas and patent them as their own creations.

There were likely at least two people from Worth Chemicals involved in the betrayal – one who had the necessary chemistry knowledge and one who was a senior enough executive to have access to all of the security codes. There were many chemists employed at the company, but, besides Worth himself, only the three senior vice presidents knew all the codes. Profiles for each of these three were included in the file. She had experience working with all three of them, but she didn’t know any of them very well.

Jerry Roberts was the first name on the list. He was a friendly, easygoing guy who made a lot of jokes. Not really the type to be an industrial spy, she thought, but you never knew. The next executive was Carmen Linares. She was much more serious than Jerry, and very hardworking and ambitious. That ambition could be a motive, thought Christina. Then again, Carmen had always seemed very loyal and devoted to Mr. Worth and his company. The final name was that of Bart Berkman. Christina didn’t like him. He was an arrogant loudmouth who had actually been friendly with William (not surprisingly, since their personalities were so similar). He was also one of the few executives who had been opposed to giving her William’s old position. Christina found herself scowling while thinking about Bart Berkman, then caught herself. If she was going to solve this case and expose the traitors, she had to make judgements based on facts and not on personal dislikes.

She looked at her watch. It was past 6:30. Quickly putting the file in her bag, she gathered up the rest of her stuff and left the office, deciding to visit Paul. Her boyfriend was the only one at the company she knew she could trust completely. Also, he worked in the labs all day and might have an idea as to where the chemical end of the spying was coming from. She drove to Paul’s apartment and knocked on his door. When he opened it, she greeted him with a tight hug and a long kiss on the lips.

They made a cute couple, Christina and Paul. She was 5’3″ and 120 pounds, with long blonde hair and a muscular body. Although at about 5’6″ and 145 pounds he was somewhat bigger than her, thanks to Christina’s powerful and well-conditioned muscles she was stronger than him. She loved the fact that her boyfriend was turned on by her being the stronger one. Paul smiled at her after the kiss. “Wow, nice greeting,” he said.

“I like knowing the best way to say hello,” she responded with a wink. She then turned serious. “I need your help with something,” she said. She told him all about the problem with the industrial spying. When she was finished, Paul had a thoughtful look on his face.

“I think I know who the traitor in the labs is,” he said. “His name is Jake Herkimer. He’s been acting very weird lately. He snoops around the storage areas when he thinks no one’s looking, and he’s been getting a lot of phone calls that he acts very secretive about. He’s up to something.”

“Keep a close eye on him,” said Christina. “If you get any proof of what he’s doing, tell me right away. I’ll try to find out which of the executives is involved in the spying.”

“Another adventure,” said Paul with a grin. “Just like the time we busted William and David and their thugs.”

Christina smiled back, then said, “Would you mind if I stayed at your place tonight? We could pick up some food at the drive-thru and look over the stuff in this file. Then, maybe we could look over some things in the bedroom…”

“I’d love that,” said Paul. He loved it when his girlfriend was sexually aggressive.

The next day, after a night of passionate lovemaking, plus a small amount of sleep, Christina and Paul went back to work. Paul kept a close eye on Jake in the labs, while Christina carefully watched Bart, Carmen, and Jerry. She had made a plan to follow her suspects in the evenings, in the hope that the spy could be caught conducting his (or her) business after hours. Paul had made a similar plan to follow Jake after work.

When the end of the workday came, Christina got ready for her shadowing. To try to counter the negative personal feelings she had about Bart, she had decided to start with Carmen and do Bart last. She knew what Carmen’s car looked like, so she went out to her own car and waited behind the wheel. When Carmen came out and drove off, she followed at a safe distance. The surveillance was uneventful. Carmen stopped briefly at a convenience store to pick up a few things, then went straight home. Christina kept an eye on the house for several hours, but Carmen did not come out again, nor did she receive any visitors. Finally, Christina decided that since her suspect (and herself) had to be at work on time the next morning, it was time to call it a night.

She met with Paul the next day at work. He informed her that he hadn’t seen Jake do anything suspicious when he had followed him. When she got back to her office and checked her email, she found that Mr. Worth wanted to meet her in person to see how she was doing. She went over to the CEO’s office and greeted Karen, Mr. Worth’s secretary. “Mr. Worth said he wanted to see me,” she said.

Karen sent her right into Worth’s office. Making sure to close the door behind her, Christina greeted her boss, who was seated behind his large desk with a worried look on his face. He motioned for her to have a seat. “I don’t know for sure the names of everybody who has the capability to read company email, so I wanted to see you in person. I’ve just received word that BroadChem Industries is preparing to put a new product on the market,” said the CEO. “The formula for that product was, of course, stolen from us. The situation is getting worse. How are you coming along?”

Christina told him about following Carmen last night, and her plans to follow the other suspects. She tried to think of the best way to tell him about Paul and his suspicions about Jake. “I’ve enlisted the help of one person who I know I can trust completely,” she said. “He has an idea about the suspect on the laboratory end of things. The suspect’s name is Jake Herkimer.”

Worth frowned, thinking for several seconds. Finally, he said, “If you feel that your friend is completely trustworthy, then I’ll go with your judgement on that. However, you should have checked with me first.”

“I’m sorry,” said Christina. “But I don’t know the people in the labs very well, and he does. He’s been very helpful to me.” In more ways than one, she thought to herself, a naughty little smile appearing on her pretty face. The CEO gave her a puzzled look, at which she quickly removed the naughty smile.

Worth nodded in understanding. “I can see the importance of having one of the lab workers on our side,” he said. “I’ll see if I can find anything else on this Jake Herkimer guy. Keep at it. We’ve got to expose the spies soon or we’re going to lose a lot of money.”

That evening, just before work was over, Christina and Paul met to plan their surveillance for the night. “We’ve already watched Carmen and Jake,” said Christina. “We should do Jerry and Bart tonight. I’ll take care of Bart. He’s a pretty rough guy and I want to be the one to be there if he gets suspicious and turns violent.”

“All right, I’ll take Jerry,” said Paul. “Tomorrow night, I’ll shadow Jake again. If I watch him long enough, I’m sure I’ll catch him at something.” After a nice long kiss, the two of them set off on their assignments.

Bart drove straight home and Christina watched his house for several hours. She was just about to call it a night when she saw the front door open. Bart came out, got into his car, and drove off. She followed him carefully. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was 10:08 in the evening. Where could he be going at this hour? After about fifteen minutes of driving, Bart pulled into the parking lot of an abandonded warehouse. Christina’s heart pounded with excitement. It certainly looked as if he was up to no good. She parked her car a safe distance away and crept closer to her suspect on foot. He had gotten out of his car and was pacing back and forth impatiently.

Finally, the sound of another car was heard. The newcomer drove up next to Bart and got out. It was a pretty but slutty-looking woman. Bart greeted her with a whistle. They then both climbed into the back seat of Bart’s car. Christina shook her head. “I got all excited and all it turned out to be was a horny guy out to get some cheap pussy,” she thought to herself. She observed them for a while longer to make sure that fucking was all they were doing, then crept back to her car and drove home. She called Paul to tell him what she had found. After laughing at the description of Bart’s late-night fuck, he informed her that Jerry hadn’t done anything suspicious while he had been watching him.

Christina had a hard time concentrating on her regular work the next day. She kept thinking about the spies. Finally, closing time rolled around and she got ready to go. Paul was watching Jake, and Christina planned to shadow Carmen again. She paused in front of Carmen’s office. Carmen was still in there, working late. She waited for quite a while, pretending to be busy reading documents whenever someone passed by. Suddenly, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She whirled around and saw Paul running up, an excited look on his face.

Motioning for him to be quiet, they stepped out of Carmen’s earshot. “What did you find?” asked Christina. “I just overheard a phone conversation between Jake and the spy among the executives,” grinned Paul. “They were discussing which formula they were going to steal next, and what was the best time to do it. And here’s the best part – I could just barely make out the voice of the other person on the line. It wasn’t very clear, but it was definitely a woman’s voice. There’s only one woman among your suspects – Carmen.”

A puzzled look came over Christina’s face. “But it couldn’t have been Carmen,” she said. “I’ve been standing in front of her office for the past twenty minutes. She’s in there and she hasn’t been on the phone.”

Paul frowned. “But who else could it be?” he asked. “I couldn’t hear much of what the woman said, but she did mention knowing all the security codes.”

“Carmen’s the only woman who knows all the security codes, and it can’t have been her!” said Christina, pulling her blonde hair in frustration.

“Maybe someone really close to the CEO somehow learned the codes,” said Paul. “Like Worth’s wife or someone.”

“Worth isn’t married,” said Christina. “He’s really devoted to his work. The only women he even has a business relationship with are me, Carmen, and…” A sudden thought struck her. “Of course!” she said. “How could I have been such a blonde?”

“What is it?” said Paul.

“Karen. Worth’s secretary,” she said. “She’s the closest one to him. She could have learned the codes if she kept her eyes and ears open. We need to warn Worth.”

Suddenly, they heard a strange sound from behind them. It sounded a little like applause, but it was much quieter, as if it was only one hand clapping. Christina and Paul turned around. Karen was standing there, an evil grin darkening her normally attractive face. Her left hand was the one hand clapping. In her right hand, she held a Browning 9mm pistol pointed straight at Christina’s head.

“Very good,” the pretty brunette said in a quiet and deadly voice. “You figured it out. Unfortunately for you, you figured it out a few minutes too late.” She grabbed Christina and spun her around, then jammed her gun into the blonde’s back. “Now march,” she ordered. “One word or one bit of trouble from either of you and I’ll kill you both.”

They marched to the elevator. Most of the other employees had already gone home, but to be on the safe side Karen draped her coat over the gun so no one could see what she was doing. They rode in silence down the elevator and emerged in the underground parking garage. A car was waiting, its engine running. Two men were in it. The man behind the wheel was none other than Jake Herkimer. In the front passenger seat was a big man in a business suit.

“I got the nosy ones. Let’s go,” said Karen. She shoved Paul and Christina into the back seat, then got in after them, still pointing her gun at them. Jake quickly drove out of the garage and off into the night.

Now that they were safely alone, Karen relaxed. “I suppose you want to know how I caught you,” she said with a smirk.

“Nope,” said Christina in her most casual voice. She didn’t want to hand Karen an opportunity to gloat.

“Too bad. I’m telling you anyway,” said Karen. “I suppose I should start at the beginning. I’ve been Worth’s secretary for fifteen years. I work at least as hard as he does, and he makes ten times as much as me.”

“Ten times? That’s not that big a discrepancy, especially in this day and age,” said Christina. “J.P. Morgan said that top-level executives should be making about 25 times as much as low-level employees. And most CEOs these days don’t even obey those limits, the way their salaries are so ridiculously high. Mr. Worth is actually pretty generous. At any rate, whatever you’re getting is certainly more than a sellout bitch like you deserves.”

Karen drove her elbow into Christina’s ribs, hard. “Shut up!” she snarled. She hissed for a few seconds, then continued her story. “Then, I was approached by John Terry here,” she said, indicating the man in the front passenger seat. “He works for BroadChem Industries, and his company was very interested in acquiring some samples from us, for the right price of course. So I kept my eyes and ears open, and over time managed to learn all the security codes from Worth. He trusts me completely and never suspected that I was spying on him to learn the codes.”

“He didn’t trust you enough to tell you about the spy problem,” pointed out Christina with a small smile. Karen, predictably, smashed her elbow into the blonde’s side again. Christina decided that the pain was worth it if it pissed Karen off and took away from her self-congratulatory attitude.

“I said shut up! I’m the one talking here!” shrilled Karen. “After I learned the codes, I still needed a chemist, so I brought Jake in. Between the two of us, we’ve leaked a lot of good stuff to BroadChem in exchange for some excellent monetary compensation.”

“I’ve got a bug in Worth’s office,” Karen went on. “I heard your talk with him and I knew you were in charge of investigating things. I received a new bug today and was planning to plant it in your office this evening. But just when I was about to pick the lock, I saw you standing in the hall. Then I saw your boyfriend come running up. Oh yes, I can tell you’re fucking each other. I know everything. Anyway,” she continued with a chuckle, “when you named me as the prime suspect, I knew the jig was up. Luckily, I always carry a bit of insurance around.” She waved her gun.

“We’ve got a good deal going here,” said Karen. Her voice had become quieter and colder. “And we can’t have you messing it up.” She suddenly clonked Christina on the head with the gun, knocking her out. She then did the same to Paul.

Christina woke up with a terrible headache. She looked around and saw that she was locked in a large closet. There was no sign of Paul or their captors. She knew that they most likely planned to kill her and Paul, but she didn’t panic. Panicking would only make things worse. Instead, she thought of how to get out of this jam.

The first step was to get out of the closet. She remembered something she had seen a heroine do in an action movie. Reaching into her long blonde hair, Christina pulled out a hairpin. Inserting it into the locking mechanism on the closet door, she moved it around until she finally heard a satisfying click. The door came open. She walked quietly out of the closet and into a hallway. The next order of business was to look for Paul and set him free.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming from a nearby room. Approaching it, she saw that the door was ajar. She could see the three perps. inside. A table in the room was covered with decks of cards and boxes of Chinese food.

The thugs were arguing about how to best kill their victims and make it look like an accident. “How about we make it look like those two died in a car crash?” suggested Jake.

“I say we poison them and say it was food poisoning,” said John Terry.

“I don’t like that one, J.T.,” said Karen. “I think we should blow them up with an ‘accidental’ gas explosion. They work with dangerous chemicals all the time, you know.”

Listening to them, Christina felt like the dwarves in the story “The Hobbit,” who had been stuffed into sacks by trolls, who were discussing whether to roast them slowly, boil them, or sit on them one by one and squash them into jelly. Christina wished she had a magic spell that would turn all three thugs into stone. Then she decided that since they were distracted, now was her best chance to defeat them.

“How about this,” said J.T. He waved a deck of cards. “Whoever draws the highest card, we do his idea. Or her idea.”

“Fair enough,” said Karen. She reached for the cards and shuffled them. Jake then cut the cards. Karen held out the deck to J.T., who drew a card. “Eight of spades,” he said.

Jake drew his card next. “Six of diamonds. Damn,” he said. “Well, Karen, it’s all up to you.”

Christina was horrified at the way the thugs were casually planning a pair of murders. She readied herself for her attack.

Karen held up her card with a grin. “Jack of hearts,” she said. “Looks like we’ll be doing my i-”

With a shrill, feminine warrior cry, Christina launched herself through the air and landed a flying kick on Karen’s back, sending her sailing across the room. Karen landed in an undignified heap, while Christina landed perfectly on her feet. The blonde then performed a powerful spin kick that hit both Jake and J.T. and sent them both to the floor.

Karen got to her feet, an enraged look on her face. “You’ll pay for this, bitch!” she shrilled. She reached into her coat. Christina performed a lightning-fast front handspring that brought her directly in front of Karen, who now had her gun in her hand. Christina then did a quick crescent kick that sent the gun sailing across the room. “You’ve already got two buddies to back you up. Don’t tell me you need a gun too,” she taunted. Karen hissed and swung a punch. Christina blocked it with her thick forearm, then knocked her opponent down with a cheerleader kick to the face.

She turned to face her other opponents. Jake was still down, but J.T. had gotten to his feet. He was a big man, probably about 6’1″ and 210 pounds. “Bring it on, blondie,” he said, getting into a boxing stance.

Christina kicked him in the groin and smirked as he howled in pain. “Maybe that wasn’t fair, but three against one isn’t fair either,” she chuckled. She then drove a punch into his gut, followed by another one to his jaw.

Jake suddenly grabbed her from behind. “I’ve got her!” he yelled. J.T. advanced on her, but was knocked back when she kicked him in the chest. She then stomped hard on Jake’s foot. As he let out a howl of pain, she broke free and, without looking, drove her elbow backwards. Her attack caught Jake right in the solar plexus. Seeing both men stumbling around dizzily, she grabbed both their heads and slammed them together, hard. Jake and J.T. fell to the floor.

Christina turned her attention back to Karen, who had gotten up and was advancing on her, fists raised. Karen’s long brown hair was a mess and she had an enraged look on her face. The brunette, at 5’5″ and 125 pounds, was slightly bigger than Christina, but although she was quite fit she didn’t have the amount of muscle definition that the blonde had. The two women began boxing. Although both of them landed punches, Christina was clearly winning the fight. She landed two or three punches for every one her opponent landed.

Suddenly, Karen punched Christina right in the middle of her small, firm left breast. She then delivered another punch to the blonde’s other breast and let out a sadistic laugh. Christina, although her firm little 34B’s were hurting terribly, didn’t let the pain cause her to lose her concentration. Instead, she drove her knee into Karen’s groin with all her strength. Karen shrieked in pain and clutched her wounded sweet spot. “You want to play dirty, then I can play dirty too,” growled Christina.

Suddenly, she sensed a movement behind her. Without turning to look, the little blonde fired a powerful back kick that slammed into J.T.’s gut, ruining his chance to launch a surprise attack. She followed it up with a pretty spin kick that knocked J.T. to the ground, then turned her attention back to Karen. Karen kicked her in the chest. Christina grunted and stumbled back a little, but recovered quickly and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to the side of Karen’s head. She then grabbed Karen, headbutted her, and knocked her to the ground with an athletic-looking cartwheel kick.

Christina whirled around. Jake was lying on the floor, moaning, but J.T. was swinging a punch at her, which she dodged thanks to her quick reflexes. She drove her right knee into his stomach, then slammed her left fist into his eye. She then balanced on her right leg while repeatedly high-kicking him in the face with her left. Her strength and balance would have provided a lovely show for a spectator, but for J.T. they were just battering him into bloody dizziness. She finally let up after about fifteen kicks. J.T. stumbled and let out a moan. Blood trickled from his mouth, and spots of blood also stained his business suit. Christina smiled at her skill, then performed a standing back handspring, kicking her opponent in the jaw as she flipped. J.T. fell to the floor, unconscious.

Karen was now on her hands and knees, about to pull herself back up to a standing position. However, Christina had other plans. She brutally kneed the brunette in the face, knocking her back down. She then fired off a couple of kicks to her head.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!” came a sudden shout. Jake, who had finally gotten up, was charging her with a loud yell. Christina calmly stood and waited, then, at the last second, stepped to the side and smashed her elbow into Jake’s head. As her opponent’s war cry turned into a cry of pain, she clocked him in the jaw with her medium-sized but very powerful fist.

Jake, groaning, rubbed his jaw. At 5’8″ and 170 pounds he was considerably bigger than her, but he was extremely out of shape. He swung a punch at her stomach. Christina tensed her hard abs. Jake howled in pain as his fist impacted the well-muscled wall. With a smirk, the blonde then delivered a punch of her own into his gut. Jake doubled over and screamed like a girl.

“Weak abs?” she taunted him. “Paul tells me you’re always sneaking candy bars and potato chips in the lab. Breaking the rules has consequences, you know, like making you fat and weak, and getting you hit like this.” She punched him in the stomach four more times to emphasize her point. When she was done, Jake found that the Chinese food he had eaten for dinner was coming out the same way it had gone in. Christina laughed and waited for him to finish throwing up. When he was done, she kicked him in the face, then crouched down and launched a brutally powerful uppercut. The impact knocked Jake to the ground, out cold.

Christina looked around to where she had left Karen, but the brunette was no longer there. Suddenly, Karen tackled Christina from behind, then wrapped her strong legs around the blonde’s waist. Both women grunted and moaned as they struggled. “How do you like my leg power, honey?” taunted Karen.

Christina drove her elbow into Karen’s face and followed it up with a vicious headbutt. That was enough for her to break free. She then wrapped her own legs around Karen’s neck and applied pressure. “My…legs…are…stronger,” hissed Christina. Karen struggled desperately, but the blonde’s thighs were much too powerful for her to escape from. Christina increased the squeezing power as Karen’s struggles grew weaker and fainter. Finally, the brunette slumped unconscious. Christina climbed back to her feet and looked around with a satisfied and sexy smile.

Then her smile turned to a frown. Jake was no longer there. She heard footsteps running down the hall and began chasing after him. Although she was faster, he had too much of a head start. Jake had reached the far end of the hall and was about to open the door when suddenly a leg appeared out of nowhere and tripped him to the ground. Jake, after banging his head on the hardwood floor, looked up dizzily and saw Paul standing over him. “Looks like your flight’s been delayed,” Paul smirked.

Jake climbed to his feet and let out a threatening growl. However, by that time Christina had reached them. She crossed her muscular arms in front of her. “You want to go at it again?”

“N…no, that won’t be necessary,” stammered Jake. “I surrender. And it was all Karen’s idea. She was the ringleader.”

Christina rolled her eyes. “Save it for court,” she said. She looked around. “You have any rope around here? Or should I just knock you out?”

“N…no need for that,” stammered Jake. “There’s some rope in the corner over there.”

While Christina kept watch over Jake, Paul got a length of rope. Jake and then J.T. and Karen were all tied up securely. After that, Christina called the police. “The cops are on their way,” she said as she hung up. She turned to Paul, an impressed look on her face. “How did you get out of wherever you were locked up?” she asked.

“Well, when I woke up, I found that I was locked in this smelly closet,” he answered. “I was trying to think of a way to escape and I had my hands in my pockets. Then, I felt this little bottle in my pocket and I realized that I had a sample of a chemical I was working on that happened to be very acidic. I poured it on the lock and the acid ate it away.”

“Mmm, my smart and sexy man,” she said, giving him a long kiss. Paul blushed. “How did you get out?” he asked.

Christina told him about her use of her hairpin. “Mmm, my smart and sexy blonde,” he said. They kissed again.

“Oh, get a room, you two,” said Jake.

Christina raised a threatening fist to him, and he became silent. “I guess that was a little cheesy,” she admitted. Turning to Jake, she added, “That doesn’t mean you have permission to be a loudmouth.”

Ten minutes later, the sound of heavy police footsteps woke Karen and J.T. from their slumber. All three thugs were handcuffed and hauled off to jail. After giving their statements to the police, Christina and Paul were finally free to go.

The next day, Mr. Worth met with Christina and Paul and personally congratulated them on their achievement. He declared that they would both be receiving very large Christmas bonuses that year, and he offered Paul a promotion to lab supervisor, which he gratefully accepted. As for Christina, Worth offered her a promotion to the senior vice president position that had previously been held by Bart Berkman, whom Worth had fired after learning of his prostitution habits.

The little blonde smiled at the offer. “That’s very generous of you, Mr. Worth, but what I’d really like to do is be in charge of security here. I don’t want spies infiltrating us again.”

“Consider it done,” said Worth. “I’ll give you the same salary you would have made as a senior vice president. Anyway, I was planning on firing the current head of security for massive incompetence. I think my cousin, who manages a McDonald’s, can get him a job there. It’d fit him better.” Christina and Paul laughed, remembering how their old enemy David had ended up working at McDonald’s after being fired.

The following evening, while watching the news at Christina’s place, Paul and Christina learned of the true magnitude of what they had done. Not only had they exposed Karen and Jake as spies and J.T. as their contact, but the arrests had led to a massive investigation of BroadChem Industries. The company was found not only to be stealing others’ research, but also to be doing some major fraud and cheating with their accounting. In the days that followed, BroadChem collapsed just like Enron, WorldCom, and the walls of Jericho. The CEO and CFO of BroadChem were arrested and hauled off to jail in shame.

Karen and J.T. were both convicted of espionage, kidnapping, and attempted murder, and were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. Jake pleaded guilty and testified against his former accomplices, earning him a sentence of 12 years.

After the trials were over, things finally seemed to return to normal. As Christina looked over the list of problems she had to deal with as head of security, she knew that she and Paul would have many more opportunities to hunt down more bad guys (and girls).

When Paul arrived for work on Tuesday morning, he felt a presence behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Christina. She smiled at him.

“Everything’s all taken care of,” she said. “Now if you’ll follow me to my office, I have a surprise for you.”

Paul was bursting with curiosity as he followed his manager. Once they were inside the office, Christina closed the door. “I’ll get right to the point,” she said. She motioned for Paul to turn around. He did so and to his great surprise saw David standing there. David did not look very good. He had a broken nose, a black eye, and several nasty bruises on his face. “I believe David here has something to say,” she said.

David cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I attacked you,” he said to Paul. “That was a very rude, cowardly, and stupid thing for me to do, and I’m very sorry.”

Paul was too shocked to say a word. “Very good, David,” said Christina. “Now, I believe you have a little document to write, so you’d better get to work,” she continued.

“Yes, ma’am,” answered David, as he hurried out of the office.

As soon as David had left, Paul’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Christina. “Wow, you rock!” he finally managed to say. “So, you must have hired some pretty tough guys to teach him a lesson, huh?”

“I didn’t hire anyone,” said Christina. “I didn’t need to.” “You mean you did that yourself?!” asked Paul, shocked. “But he’s… and you’re…” He looked more closely at his manager. Today, she was wearing tight black pants that emphasized her well-muscled butt and legs, and a sleeveless black top that showed off her strong arms.

“Wow, a chick who can kick ass!” he said. “I love that!” He suddenly blushed as he realized what he’d said.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” said Christina. “I like a guy who can appreciate a strong woman.”

“Well, you could definitely kick my ass,” Paul said, wishing he had his briefcase with him so he could cover his growing erection with it.

“As soon as David sends his little statement to the executives, I’ll officially promote you to your new position,” said Christina. She suddenly leaned over and gave Paul a long kiss on the lips. “See you around, sweetie,” she said. As he left the office, Paul had a look of shock on his face, courtesy of the kiss he had just received. He had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn’t some sort of wonderful dream.

After David had written his statement and sent copies to all the top executives, he went straight to the lab to start his work. He had no chance to slack off, as Christina kept a close eye on him all throughout the day. She made sure that he did all his work, was always careful with the chemicals, and didn’t bully anyone. She had also allowed him only fifteen minutes for a lunch break, saying that this policy would continue until he had given several weeks of hard work. At the end of the day, David groaned in exhaustion. Actually doing the work he was supposed to do was so much more tiring than the lazy, half-assed way he was used to doing things. He grabbed his stuff and headed for the exit, planning to go straight home, watch some TV, and drink a nice cold beer.

Suddenly, his path was blocked by a large figure, which turned out to be none other than his uncle, Mr. Allen. “What the hell is the meaning of this?” growled Mr. Allen, as he waved David’s statement paper in his face. Suddenly noticing the bruised and battered condition of his nephew’s face, he added, “And what the hell happened to your face?”

David, hanging his head in shame, told his uncle everything. When he had finished, Mr. Allen scowled at him. “Let me get this straight,” said Mr. Allen. “You not only got yourself beaten and humiliated, but you got yourself beaten and humiliated by a girl! I thought you were big and tough, the way you always brag about how you win all those bar fights. And now you get beat up by a little girl?!”

“I couldn’t help it!” whined David. “She must be some sort of kung-fu expert or something, theway she pulled those moves on me.”

Mr. Allen shook his head in disgust. “And to top it off,” he continued, “you actually do what she orders you to! What kind of a man are you?!”

“She threatened me!” said David. “Besides, I was still dizzy and confused when she made me do it!”

“I’ll say,” muttered Mr. Allen. He grabbed his nephew by the shirt collar. “Now listen to me,” he said. “We’re the Allen family. We’re rich. We’re powerful. No one messes with us and gets away with it. When that bitch Christina threatened you, you shouldn’t have caved in to her. You should have come to me! I have connections. I could have solved your problem! Now, we can still clean up this mess, but it’s going to be a lot more complicated because of your stupidity. Here’s what we’re going to do…” Mr. Allen continued explaining the rest of his plan to his nephew.

It was past 7:00 that evening when Christina headed out to her car in the dark parking lot. Working late was becoming quite common for her. Suddenly, she was startled by the appearance of two large men. The first man was overweight and balding, with a scarred face. The other was just as tall as his companion, but thinner. He had black hair and a smirking face. The two men scowled angrily at Christina. “Well, well, well,” said the fat man. “If it isn’t the little blonde crusader.”

Christina rolled her eyes. “What the hell do you want?” she asked.

“We’re just here to deliver a little suggestion,” said the black-haired man. “We’re here to suggest that you and your wussy friend Paul both submit your resignations to the head of the company by 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. And you should also write a note that says you blackmailed David Allen into writing his statement paper, and send a copy to all the executives. If you don’t, something very bad will happen to both of you.”

“And what if I’m not afraid of a bunch of lame threats from a couple of William Allen’s hired thugs?” she asked.

“Aggressive little thing, isn’t she, Johnny?” said the black-haired man to his companion.

“She sure is, Slick,” responded the fat man. “But aggression isn’t going to get her out of this one.” He turned to Christina. “We’re here to put you in your place, blondie,” he said. “You’d better do as we say, or else.”

“I know where my place is,” said Christina. “My place is teaching lessons to ugly assholes like you.”

“Why, you little bitch,” growled Johnny. He took a swing at her. She danced out of the way easily and kneed him in the gut. Johnny doubled over in pain. Slick charged forward, but several fast punches to his face, courtesy of Christina’s fists, knocked him to the ground.

Johnny grabbed Christina from behind. She stomped hard on his foot. He howled in pain and let her go. Without looking, she kicked out hard behind her, hitting Johnny in the chest and sending him flying backward. She then turned her attention back to Slick, who had gotten up and was now shaking his head dizzily. He charged towards her and tried to hit her in the face, but she dodged his attack and high-kicked him in the jaw. Slick fell to the ground again.

Johnny was now trying to sneak up on Christina from behind. Just when he had almost reached her and was about to launch an attack, she suddenly drove her elbow into him. She then spun around, tripped him to the ground, and kicked him in the head several times, knocking him out.

Slick was lying on the ground, moaning in pain and making angry threats. She went over to him, lifted her right leg up until she was doing a full vertical split, and smashed her leg down onto his head. Slick bounced, then lay still.

Christina took out her cell phone and called the police. A few minutes later, a squad car arrived. She made a statement to the police, and Johnny and Slick were hauled off to jail.

The next morning, as David arrived for another long, weary day of closely supervised hard work, his cell phone rang. It was his uncle, William Allen. “Something went wrong last night,” came Mr. Allen’s voice. “Johnny and Slick didn’t check in. Something must have happened. I’m going to take the day off from work and devote my energy to getting this business straightened out. The police might come poking around, so if they ask you any questions, don’t tell them anything if you know what’s good for you.”

“Don’t worry,” said David. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ to no cops.”

“Good,” said Allen. “I’m going to teach that little bitch and her wimpy friend not to mess with the Allen family.”

Christina called Paul into her office. Once they were inside, she closed the door. “I’ll get right to the point,” she said. “Did anyone threaten you last night?”

Paul looked surprised. “No,” he said. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she answered. “Just that a couple of thugs tried to bully me into quitting last night.”

“What happened?!” he asked, alarmed. “Are you okay?”

Christina laughed. “I’m fine,” she said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “But the guys who tried to attack me aren’t feeling so hot. I kicked their asses and now they’re in jail. They’d better hope that none of the other prisoners finds out that they got beat up by a girl.”

“Wow,” said Paul, impressed. He stared at her for several seconds, then said, “Can I ask you something? How did you learn to fight so well?”

“Well, I grew up in a rough neighborhood,” she began. “My dad walked out on us when I was six. My mom always said that women should know how to take care of themselves. She was a martial-arts expert and she taught me how to fight. Whenever I saw a bigger kid beating up on a smaller kid, I’d intervene and…”

There was a sudden knocking on the door. “Police!” came a voice. Christina talked briefly with the police. The cops then looked for Mr. Allen, but were informed that he was not available. After that, they questioned David, but he didn’t tell them anything. After questioning several employees, none of whom seemed to know where Allen had gone, the police left to see if they could find Allen anywhere.

After they had gone, Christina pulled Paul into her office and closed the door. “I watched the cops as they were questioning people,” she said. “And I noticed something. Jessica, that slutty girl who works in the front office, was very nervous when she was being interrogated. I’ve suspected for a while that the little whore’s been sleeping with Allen. I bet she knows where he is. If you see her do anything strange, keep an eye on her.”

A few minutes later, Paul noticed Jessica slip off. Making sure that she didn’t see him, he followed her. She went into an empty meeting room and closed the door. He walked up to the door and listened. He heard her on the phone. “Yeah, the cops were just here,” Jessica was saying. “I didn’t tell them anything, and neither did David. I’m pretty sure they don’t know what you’re up to.” A pause of several seconds, then, “Sure, I’d love to join you. You can get them to let me go for today? Great. I’ll be right there. Bye.” Paul quickly walked off before the door opened. He hurried to tell Christina what he’d heard.

“Let’s follow her,” said Christina. She handed him her car keys. “Go out and start the car, honey. I’ll be right out. I just have to make sure that David doesn’t get suspicious.”

Paul took the keys and turned to leave, then stopped suddenly. “Should we call the cops?” he asked.

“I think we both want to have the satisfaction of getting Allen ourselves,” answered Christina. “We can call the police after it’s all done.” Noticing the nervous expression on Paul’s face, she added with a wink, “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll be there to protect you.” This remark brought a smile to Paul’s face, as well as an erection underneath his pants. Covering his woody with his briefcase, he hurried out to the parking lot.

Christina darted back into the lab. Making sure that no one saw her, she grabbed David by the neck. “You’ve lucked out for a little while,” she said. “Some company big shot wants to have an emergency meeting with me. But don’t think you’re off the hook. You’d better be a good boy while I’m gone. Remember what I told you. If you try anything funny, I’m going to kick your ass really bad in front of everyone and really humiliate you.” She ran off, leaving David in the lab with a scared look on his face.

After making quick and clever excuses to her boss for both herself and Paul leaving, Christina hurried out to the car. The engine was running, and Paul was sitting in the passenger seat with his briefcase on his lap. “Jessica’s just leaving,” he said. Pointing, he added, “That red car right there is hers.”

Giving Paul a quick kiss on the cheek, Christina followed Jessica out of the parking lot and through the streets, taking care to stay far enough behind so she wouldn’t get suspicious. After about twenty minutes of driving, the red car pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. Jessica got out and went inside the building. Christina and Paul followed at a distance. Jessica walked quickly through the hotel lobby towards the back of the building, where the meeting rooms were. She knocked on one of the doors. It opened and she slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

Christina and Paul walked up to the door and listened. “Don’t underestimate her, Red,” a voice that was recognizable as Mr. Allen’s was saying. “She may be a little blonde girl, but she’s got kung-fu skills or whatever you want to call them. She beat up my nephew, and she probably beat up the two guys I sent after her yesterday. When you go to collect from her, take at least four men, and make sure they’re good men. Men who know how to fight. Even Little Miss Kung-Fu won’t be able to handle that.”

“Relax, Mr. Allen,” came a gruff voice. “When you hire Red, you hire the best. I have a good crew ready. We’ll take care of everything. Tonight, if you want it. Just make sure you have the money ready.”

“It’ll be ready,” came Allen’s voice. “Tonight will be great. I know where she lives. Here’s the address.”

A female voice was heard, presumably Jessica’s. “I’ll be happy to see her get taken down a notch,” she said. “She thinks she’s so smart.”

Christina opened the door and calmly walked into the meeting room, Paul right behind her. He closed the door behind them. The three people who were already in the room stared at the newcomers in shock.

William Allen, a large, ugly man with graying hair, was seated at the far end of the meeting table. On his left was a big, rough-looking man with red hair. On Allen’s right was a slender, athletic-looking brunette who was wearing a blouse that showed a lot of cleavage.

“How the hell did you find us here?!” shouted Allen angrily.

“Oh, we have our ways,” said Christina. She tossed her long blonde hair in a dramatic fashion. “You disappoint me, William. First, your wimpy nephew gets his butt kicked by me. Then, those two thugs you sent after me last night also get their butts kicked by me. Now, I catch you in the act of hiring ol’ Red here and planning to send even more thugs after me. If you have a problem with me, why don’t you get the balls to confront me on your own?”

“Watch your mouth, blondie,” growled Allen. “People like you need to be put in their place. You should have just done as I said when I told you to give that promotion to David. Now look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself and your wimpy boyfriend into.”

Christina advanced on Allen threateningly. Red pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. “Not so fast,” he said.

Allen grinned evilly. “It’s over, girlie,” he said. “You and Mr. Weakling over there had better start writing your resignations right now, or else you’re both dead. Get to work.”

Paul suddenly turned off the lights. The meeting room had no windows and was plunged into complete darkness. Loud, angry shouts came from Allen, Red, and Jessica.

Red pointed his gun around wildly in the darkness. Suddenly, a pair of booted feet impacted with his head as Christina performed a flying kick. Red flew backwards and crashed against the wall, his gun sailing loose.

Allen, meanwhile, had managed to reach the light switch and turn the lights back on, revealing the current scenario in the room. Christina was standing in a fighting stance, fists ready. Red was seated against the wall, holding his head in a daze. Paul was standing in a corner, while Jessica was still seated at the meeting table. With a loud roar, Allen charged Christina. She responded by doing a powerful spin kick that hit her opponent in the head. With a grunt of pain, Allen fell to the floor.

Jessica saw that Red’s gun had slid under the table and started towards it. Paul saw her and tripped her to the ground. She let out a string of curses and kicked him in the groin. Paul screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching his injured family jewels. Jessica got up and stood over him, laughing. However, her laughter was suddenly interrupted when she was tackled by Christina. “You slutty ho,” said Christina angrily as she punched Jessica repeatedly in the face. Christina looked around and saw that Red was getting up. “I’ll finish dealing with you later, bitch,” she said as she gave Jessica a final punch and turned her attention to Red.

Red pulled out a knife and advanced on Christina. Just when he was about to attack, she suddenly did a lightning-fast kick that sent the knife flying out of his hand. He growled and swung a punch at her face. She ducked and socked him in the gut. She then grabbed him and headbutted him, sending him backwards. He bumped hard into the wall.

Allen had now gotten up and was trying to sneak up on Christina from behind. She knew he was coming, however. When he got close enough, she launched a powerful back kick that sent him stumbling backwards. Spinning around, she kneed him in the family jewels. Allen clutched his wounded groin and fell to the floor screaming in pain. He tried to get up, but was knocked back down again when Christina’s knee smashed into his face. She then delivered a brutal kick to his head that knocked him out and shut him up.

Red shook his head to try to clear the dizziness from it. He picked up a chair and raised it as if he was a wrestler on WWF Smackdown. He swung the chair at Christina, who ducked under it, then kicked him hard in the chest. He sailed backwards and dropped the chair. Christina launched a roundhouse kick that hit Red in the head, then fired a flurry of strong punches into his face. He moaned and stood there shakily. Seeing that Paul was watching her from his position on the floor, she winked at him and performed a standing back handspring, kicking Red. He fell to the ground.

She looked around. Paul and Jessica were both lying on the floor, Paul still clutching his groin and Jessica shaking her head dizzily. Allen was out cold. Red was starting to get up again. Christina calmly waited for him to finish standing up, then launched a vicious high kick that slammed into his jaw. Red fell to the floor face first, and stayed there.

Christina walked back over to Jessica and sat on her (large) chest. She punched Jessica in the nose. “That’s for helping Allen,” she said. She punched her again. “And that’s for being a skank,” she said. She punched Jessica one final time, knocking her out. “And that was for Paul,” she said, with a determined look on her face.

Christina hurried over to Paul, who was just now sitting up. She helped him to his feet. “Are you all right, honey?” she asked, a concerned look on her face.

“I’ll live, I guess,” he said. “And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” she asked.

“Sorry that I couldn’t be of more help,” he answered, staring glumly at his shoes. “I guess Allen and his thugs were right. I am a wuss.”

Christina gave Paul a tight hug. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “You did great. You turned off the lights. You stopped Jessica from getting to the gun. And don’t let those guys make you believe that you’re a wuss. They’re the wusses, because they’re the ones who got beat up by a girl.”

Allen, with a groan, shook his head and opened his eyes. Paul took out his cell phone and called the police, while Christina picked up Red’s gun and pointed it at Allen, who was smirking. “You don’t got nothin’ on us,” he said. “Johnny and Slick, if they’re in jail, ain’t gonna talk. When the cops get here, I’ll just say that you were the ones who assaulted us. It’ll be our word against yours. We’re gonna walk.”

“I don’t think so,” said Christina. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tape recorder. “I’ve got everything you said right here on tape,” she grinned. “Even your big-shot high-priced lawyers won’t be able to get you out of this one.” Allen looked as if he was about to pee in his pants. Christina and Paul looked at each other and laughed.

Red and Jessica woke up a few minutes later. A few minutes after that, the police arrived to find Christina holding three very depressed-looking criminals at gunpoint.

Allen, Red, and Jessica joined Johnny and Slick in jail. As for David, he didn’t last long at the company without his uncle’s protection. He was soon fired for incompetence and eventually ended up working at McDonald’s.

Paul retained the promotion to the main lab that he rightfully deserved. Christina so impressed the company’s board of directors with her actions that she was given Allen’s old executive position.

Christina and Paul hugged each other after receiving news of their promotions. She then gave him another long kiss on the lips, as Paul smiled blissfully.

Paul sighed as he looked at his watch for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. It was 4:45 on a Friday afternoon. Fifteen more minutes and he could go home for the weekend.

He decided to check his email one more time before going home. As his inbox appeared on the computer screen, Paul suddenly jumped up in surprise. Among the spam and other boring messages was a priority message from the boss. The message announced the sudden departure of one of the technicians in the main lab, creating an open position.

“This could be my ticket upward,” thought Paul. Right now, he was a technician in one of the small side labs. To get a position in the main lab would mean the chance to do some much more prestigious work, not to mention a substantial increase in salary.

Paul thought he had an excellent chance of getting the new position. He was 29 years old and had been working in the side labs for five years now, and had not yet been promoted. He was a hard worker, very reliable, and good at coming up with new ideas. He thought that surely now, his time had come.

Paul suddenly became aware of how many minutes had passed while he had been thinking. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was now two minutes past five. He grabbed his briefcase and got up to leave, hoping that on Monday his manager would tell him that he had been promoted.

As he was leaving, a large figure suddenly materialized in front of him, blocking his way. Paul groaned in disgust when he saw that it was David, the most unpleasant of his coworkers. David was one of Paul’s fellow technicians in the side labs. Although he had been with the company for only a year, David was very arrogant and rude, probably because his uncle was one of the corporation’s top executives (and had probably landed him the job in the first place). Everyone knew that David was not a good employee. He was lazy, often missed work, and was frequently late when he did bother to show up. He was also careless in the lab and had caused several accidents, luckily all minor ones so far. Although an ordinary employee who had done those things would have been fired long ago, David could not be fired due to his uncle’s influence. In addition, the knowledge that he was under the protection of his uncle had made David into a bully who pushed his coworkers around. Now, he was standing in front of Paul, scowling at him.

“What do you want?” asked Paul nervously. He had good reason to be nervous, since David was a lot bigger than him, not to mention very bad-tempered.

“I guess you got the email too,” began David. “And maybe you think you’ll get the position. Well, you’d better think again, because that promotion is mine. My uncle will tell our manager to give it to me. Now, I know you pretty well and I have a feeling you’ll be going off on some righteous crusade to get that position for yourself after they give it to me. So I’m giving you a warning. You can either keep your mouth shut and be content with your old job, or you can rock the boat and get your ass kicked.”

Paul considered letting David have his way. After all, he didn’t want any trouble and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for a beating. But the more he thought about it, the more he opposed the idea. All through school, he had been pushed around and bullied because he was small, nerdy, and shy. He did everything he could to avoid confrontations and had stopped standing up for himself. Paul decided that he was tired of hiding and backing down. He had to start standing up for himself, and this was the place to start. “No,” he said. “We both know that I’m the most qualified one for the job, and you only have a job here because of your uncle. I’m not going to let you shove your way into a position that you don’t deserve.”

David glared at Paul. “So that’s the way it’s gonna be, huh?” he snarled. “Well, you asked for this.” With that, David punched Paul hard in the stomach. Paul grunted and doubled over in pain. Struggling to stand back upright, he swung a punch at his opponent, but David dodged it easily and laughed. “You can’t touch me, wimp,” he sneered. David then punched Paul repeatedly in the face. When he was finished, Paul had a broken nose, a black eye, and several nasty bruises. David grabbed Paul by the neck and said, “I can mess you up a lot worse, so you’d better give up right now, wuss.”

David shoved Paul against the wall and released him. “See you on Monday, loser,” he smirked as he left. After Paul was sure he had gone, he went to the bathroom to clean himself up and tried not to cry.

All too soon, Monday morning rolled around. As Paul walked towards the building’s entrance, he told himself to just go on as if everything was all right and not to let David’s abuse get to him. As he entered the building, he saw Christina, his manager, walking towards him.

Paul had had a crush on Christina for a long time. It was easy to see why, considering that she was a petite, athletic hottie with long blonde hair and a great tan. Even better, she was a smart woman as well as a fair and compassionate manager. What he admired most about her, though (even more than her amazingly firm breasts), was the way she rejected David’s crude, arrogant sexual advances.

“Good morning, Paul,” said Christina as she approached him. “I have some…holy shit, what happened to you?” she gasped as she noticed his face, which was still cut and bruised from the encounter with David on Friday evening.

“Um, I worked late Friday evening and as I was leaving, a couple of thugs attacked me in the parking lot,” he lied. “They beat me up and stole my wallet.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” said Christina. “You called the police, right?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” answered Paul. “I took care of everything. I made a full report to the cops and they caught the guys. I got my wallet back, too. Everything’s okay.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Christina. “Anyway, I have something important to tell you, so if you’ll come with me to my office…”

Once they were inside the office, Christina closed the door. “I’ll get right to the point,” she said. “You know about the lab position opening?” Paul nodded. “Good,” she continued. “After reviewing all the candidates, I concluded that you were the most qualified one to take the job.” Paul sat up straight in his chair in excitement.

Christina said, “Things are not as simple as that, unfortunately. I got a message from William Allen, one of our vice-presidents. Mr. Allen was basically ordering me to give the position to that asshole nephew of his, David.”

A frown appeared on Paul’s face. Christina noticed and said, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let him push me around. You deserve the promotion and I’m going to do everything I can to help you get it. I’m going to see Mr. Allen and have a talk with him. In the meantime, you can start work as usual. I’ll notify you as soon as I get more news.”

Paul smiled gratefully. “Thank you,” he said. He got up to leave, but stopped when Christina said, “Just one more thing.”

Paul turned around. “Yes?” he asked.

Christina walked out from behind her desk so she was right in front of him. The smell of her perfume and the view of her muscular, pantyhose-clad legs was making him very nervous and giving him an erection. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.

“Is there anything more you want to tell me about what happened on Friday evening?” she asked. Paul gulped nervously. Did she suspect the truth? He considered telling her everything, but decided against it. If he told what really happened, he would get a can of whoop-ass opened up on him, and Christina might get hurt too. He couldn’t let that happen. As much as he hated lying to her, he had to do it.

“Um, no,” he stammered. “Nothing more.”

She stared at him for several seconds. “All right,” she said finally. “You can go now.” As Paul was leaving, she called out, “If you ever need to tell me anything, even if it’s embarrassing, I’m here for you. I won’t tell anyone else.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Now alone in her office, Christina began to pace around. Although she was only 27 years old, she was already recognized as one of the company’s best managers. She had the potential to advance quickly through the corporation’s ranks. However, all too often, connections, like Mr. Allen’s and David’s, counted more than merit when determining promotions. She had tried repeatedly to fire David, but Mr. Allen, protecting his nephew, had always overruled it, and the other executives didn’t care much one way or the other, so they didn’t try to stop him. Now, Mr. Allen was trying to get away with pulling his nephew up the ladder.

Christina knew Paul well enough to realize that he was not telling the whole truth. She suspected what had really happened, but had no way of proving it. She could only hope that he would find the courage to tell the whole story.

A while later, Christina asked Paul to come to her office. “I talked with Mr. Allen,” she began. “I tried again and again to change his mind, but he refused to budge. The only thing I can do now is to go to the head of the company, but I doubt that’ll work.”

All throughout that morning, Paul had been debating whether or not to tell her the truth. Now, seeing how far she was willing to go to help him, he decided he couldn’t lie to her any more.

Paul cleared his throat nervously. “First of all, thanks for everything you’re doing to help me,” he began. “I really appreciate it and I have to admit that I haven’t been telling you what really happened of Friday night.”

“I know,” said Christina.

Paul’s mouth dropped open in shock. “But… how…how could you possibly tell?”

“Oh, I have my ways,” she answered. “Go on, give me all the details.”

He told her everything that had happened on Friday night. When he had finished, Christina’s eyes were flashing with anger. “I’m so sorry he did this to you,” she said, coming over and hugging him tightly.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” said Paul. “I feel so bad about lying to you.”

“Don’t feel bad about it. It couldn’t be helped,” she replied.

“So what are we going to do now?” asked Paul. “Please don’t tell anyone else about this. You know what David’s going to do if he finds out I told.”

Christina’s eyes now had a determined look. “I’ll handle this from here,” she said. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve. You just go on and keep David thinking that everything’s going his way. I’ll have a surprise for him. Everything should be taken care of by tomorrow morning.”

Paul thought about asking her for more details, but then decided that she knew what she was doing. “Okay,” he said. “And whatever it is that you’re planning to do, I hope it works. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” said Christina. Paul left to go back to the lab, while Christina sat back down at her desk, going over the details of her plan.

That afternoon, David was just leaving when he heard someone call his name. Turning around, he saw that it was Christina. “I’d like to see you in my office, right now,” she said.

“This better be quick,” grumbled David. “Green Bay Packers are on Monday Night Football tonight.” He followed her to her office, leering at her shapely figure.

Once they were inside the office, Christina closed the door. “I’ll get right to the point,” she said. “I know what you did to Paul. You brutally attacked him, just because he wouldn’t let you steal the promotion that he rightfully deserved.”

David jumped up, furious. “So the little wimp squealed!” he yelled. “I warned him not to do that! I’m gonna pound him like a…”

He was suddenly interrupted by Christina. “You will do no such thing,” she said coldly. “Instead, you will apologize to Paul, and tell both him and your uncle that you are unworthy of the promotion, and that Paul deserves it.”

David began to laugh loudly. “Oh yeah?” he sneered. “Who’s going to make me? You?”

“That’s right, me,” answered Christina.

David snorted. “Little blonde you? I’d like to see you try! Maybe I should beat the crap out of both you and Paul, and then make him watch while I have my way with that hot body of yours.”

At that, Christina’s face went red with anger. “Now I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass even more,” she hissed. “I’m going to teach you that there are some things even your rich big shot uncle can’t protect you from.”

“Bring it on, bitch,” growled David. He raised his fists and moved towards her. Christina put up her own fists and approached her opponent. Even though he was considerably taller and heavier than her, she was not afraid. She was well trained for this kind of situation, and she knew that her opponent’s fighting experience consisted mostly of picking fights with smaller guys at bars.

David sized up his opponent as he moved towards her. He was confident that he could win easily. After all, she was just a little blonde woman, maybe 5’3″ and 120 pounds. She was certainly sexy, though. She was wearing a black miniskirt that showed off her muscular legs, and a tight white top that showed off her muscular forearms. He thought about what to do with her after he had beaten her.

“Are you going to fight or drool, you fat ugly wimp?” said Christina, smirking.

“You’ll pay for that, bitch,” snarled David, as he swung a punch at her face. She dodged it easily. He swung another punch at her, which she blocked with her arm. She immediately countered with a swift punch that landed right on his nose. He yelled in pain and staggered backward, touching his nose and feeling blood. He aimed a kick at her, but she grabbed his leg before the kick could land. Before he could do anything, she had smashed her fist into his gut and then kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground.

Christina taunted her opponent. “I don’t know if you got the memo, but this is supposed to be a fight,” she laughed as she waited for him to get up. David made a noise like a wild animal and got to his feet. He charged her, but his attack came to an abrupt end when she aimed a kick at his chest. He ran right into her outstreched leg. With a grunt of pain, he stumbled backwards. He charged her again. This time, she simply grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder. He landed heavily on the floor.

Christina rolled her eyes. “Damn, you’re even wussier than you are ugly,” she snickered. David got up and made another animal noise. Weakened by Christina’s attacks, he swung a slow, clumsy punch at her that she dodged without even having to make an effort. She then kneed him in the stomach, elbowed him in the face, and headbutted him. He let out a shout of pain as each attack landed and stood there, dizzy. Stepping back a little, she did a cartwheel, her legs slamming into his head one after the other as she completed her cartwheel and landed back on her feet. The force of her gymnastic attack knocked her opponent to the ground yet again.

“Ready to give up, you pathetic pussy?” asked Christina.

“Never!” yelled David as he got slowly back to his feet. As he finished getting up, he was greeted by Christina’s fist slamming directly into his right eye. “That black eye’s payback for the one you gave Paul,” she growled. She then balanced on her left leg while kicking him repeatedly in the face with her right leg. “And these are for being a jerk to everybody,” she snapped as she kicked him. After about a dozen vicious and lightning-fast kicks, she paused briefly to admire the damage that she had done to her opponent, who was swaying back and forth on his feet, barely conscious. “And this is for all those times you were leering at me,” she finished as she launched a powerful spin kick. The kick hit her opponent right in the head and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Christina, grinning with excitement, stood over her defeated opponent. She smoothed her skirt and fixed her hair, which had gotten slightly messed up during the fight. She then stripped David to his underwear (discovering that he wore Barney and Friends underwear – his secret shame). After that, she poured cold water on him to wake him up.

David opened his eyes and saw little blonde Christina standing over him, smirking. “So, the big wimp is awake,” she said. “Now, here’s what you’re going to do. First, you will apologize to Paul for your cowardly attack on him. Second, you will write a 500-word statement on why you are unworthy of the promotion, and you’re going to give a copy to all the top executives of the company, including your uncle. Third, from now on you’re going to work like a decent employee. And finally, to teach you one more lesson, you’re going to go home today dressed in only that idiotic Barney underwear of yours. I know you’re going to do all of this, because if you fail to do even one part of what I just told you, I’m not only going to kick your ass ten times worse than what I just did, but I’m also going to do it in public and humiliate you in front of everyone. Now, are you clear on what you have to do?”

David nodded. “Are you going to do exactly as I tell you?” Christina asked. David nodded again.

“Say ‘Yes, ma’am’,” said Christina. He stared at her. “Say it,” she said coldly as she made a fist.

A look of fear came over his face as he stammered, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” said Christina. “Now get your ugly, hairy, Barney-underwear-wearing ass out of here, and be at work on time tomorrow.”

David, glad to be able to get away from her, ran out of the office and headed to his car. He hoped it was late enough that no one would see him, but as he was running through the parking lot a group of high school girls saw him and started pointing and laughing at him. Crying in shame, he jumped into his car and raced out of the parking lot as fast as he could.

Christina, watching him from her window, laughed at his public humiliation. She then went out to her own car and drove home, enjoying one of the happiest days of her life.